Life of Lies
by DeannaReadX
Summary: "Malfoy, what would you say if I told you my whole life had been based on a lie?"   "I'd say you were lying"
1. Chapter 1

**Hey!I'm attempting a new Dramione... again! This one is set back in Hogwarts again but, unlike 'Password: Amor', I wanted to give them more innocence and a complete break from war so no random appearances from Bella Lestrange and her admirers okay? Just pure teenage situations. I am working at continuing my sequel to 'Aude Ingredi' but this idea is in my head and I just can't resist writing Dramione! ;) **

**Dee **

**xxx**

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><p>Hermione never really appreciated how the wizarding world could make the impossibilities possible. She understood that story book fantasies could probably be real depending on the sheer magnitude of ridiculousness, but even in a world when magic exists and flows through your veins, there are always things that can take you completely by surprise.<p>

She thought that even in a place where she was a witch, things like flying without the aid of a broom or making something that never existed appear from nothing or time travel through decades; could never happen. How very underestimative she was.

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><p>"Hermione what is it going to take to make you believe me?" Ron whined at her from the bench seat across from me at breakfast. She rolled my eyes; typical Ron. Couldn't let anything lie without proving he was right. "You can't, I've already told you, it's not possible. From what I know, compassion is a type of magic and even Dumbledore himself stated that there is no existing magic that can bring a human being back from the dead" I said.<p>

Ron opened his mouth filled with toast to argue but she held up my hand to stop him. "I don't care what you say; the conversation ended last night and for god's sake close your mouth. I don't want to see your breakfast in the form of mush every morning" Harry held back a chuckle beside her and he took a sip of pumpkin juice to avoid her murderous glare. She stepped away from the bench and threw her bag over her shoulder.

"I'll see you in history of magic Harry" she said dismissively. He looked up and nodded at her with a simple smile but she heard Ron groan at the prospect of listening to Professor Binns's droning voice for a whole hour.

She was just coming through the doors of the entrance hall when she felt a strong hand close around her wrist and turn her around gently. No one but Harry was this careful with her and she smiled when she saw his concerned face looking at her, his electric green eyes studying her features intelligently.

"Harry?" she asked in a slightly bored tone, his eyes narrowed a little but he stayed calm and collected. "Are you okay Hermione? You seem a little on edge" she felt a twinge of annoyance at his obvious ability to read her so easily. She couldn't help the frustration coming out in her voice when he was still staring at her like she was an injured puppy.

"I'm fine Harry" she half snapped at him and his eyebrows creased together, supposedly trying to understand her facial expressions and tone of voice "Really, I'm just worried about NEWTs. You know me, I'm tired from revising". He didn't look convinced but he let his hand fall from around her wrist and into her own hand. He squeezed it lightly before letting go and rolling his eyes, clearly not swallowing her foolish and pathetic explanation but accepting defeat. He grinned at her and said "Honestly Hermione, you could revise the colors of the rainbow for the whole year and still pass with an outstanding in DADA". She let out a sigh. No one would every truly understand her need to get top marks or the anxiety and pressure on her shoulders from being the smartest witch of her age.

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><p>The morning dragged on in a slow and exhausting fashion and by lunch time she was extremely bad tempered and worked up. She was constantly having to resist the urge to put a silencing charm on Ron who was still insisting very loudly that love could bring people back from the dead.<p>

"So why hasn't Remus paid us a visit lately then?" she snapped at Ron who was shoving a large hamburger into his mouth.

She regretted saying it instantly when Harry's face stiffened and anger flashed brilliantly in the emerald jewels that were his eyes; Ron spat his bread out on his plate, glaring at her and Ginny's eyes were full of disapproval.

"I'm so sorry Harry that was uncalled for" He blinked, processing her apology before he croaked out a simple answer "It's nothing". She looked at his expressionless face, practically begging him to mean it "Really Hermione, it's okay, don't sweat it" he tried to reassure her with a smile that didn't touch his eyes and she knew, with a shoot of pain, that she had overstepped the line.


	2. Chapter 2

She sat in the moonlight by the lake, her knees pulled up to tuck under her chin and her arms wrapped around them securely, keeping them in place. The beauty of the night took her breath away; the wind rustling the trees gently with its soft fingers, the breeze running through her long bushy ringlets and the way the moon reflected in the black, rippling water like a huge glowing globe set perfectly in place next to the bright stars.

She loved it out here at night. The clarity of everything could calm her over-rided brain and allowed her to think properly, see properly. Only Harry and Ron knew of her fondness for the lake in the school grounds by night and none of them understood the reasons behind it.

She closed her eyes delicately, letting the gentle flow of evening air cool her tense complexion.

"It's fucked up isn't it? How things can look so normal after we messed this place up so much" a sharp, icy voice came from behind me and she whipped her head around fast looking for the source of disturbance. She almost grimaced when she saw who it was.

The boy leaned up against a tree behind me was wrapped in a black jacket but it had been left open revealing a crisp white shirt and a dark, striped green tie with an 'S' emblem on the bottom; he wore simple tailored school trousers. He was very boyish and he held a smooth looking, wirery muscled chest. His face, as pale as it had always been, looked a little skinnier as the ghostly flawless skin covered a slightly pointy but masculine jaw line. He had clean, silky pale blonde hair that fell about in boyish disarray as his trademarked smirk pulled at one side of his mouth, not as pronounced as it had been before the war but still there all the same. She had never felt the need to swoon helplessly over this previously mean and bigoted man even though her fellow teenage female classmates always had.

She supposed this was one of the reasons why they had never got along; because she was different. she was not a cliché, she was not the teenage girl everyone expected her to be; and she most certainly was not attracted to Draco Malfoy.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked in a bored tone as she turned back around to get comfortable on the sandy bank again. She felt him sit down beside her silently but she didn't flinch. She merely kept her brown eyes fixed relentlessly on the cold black surface of the water.

"I don't know anymore Granger" he said with a sigh. He had one leg out straight while he bent the other to casually leave his arm strewn out over the top of his knee; that boyish confidence radiating out of his body again.

She frowned but still looked out at the water "not many of us do these days. I meant to say, why are you down here?" she asked, rephrasing her earlier question "I know what you meant Granger it's called a dramatic interjection. I knew perfectly well what you really asked, I just thought it would sound a bit more dramatized if I'd said something mature and reflecting. I could have insulted you and copied your bitchy tone but I didn't because I am going to answer your proper question now... I wanted to apologize... I... I'm sorry" he said.

She felt her eyes widen as shock stunned her brain momentarily. She looked sideways at him for the first time "wow, that looked hard" she said when she had eventually gotten over the fact that someone who had tortured and bullied her for eight years was now saying sorry.

He smirked down at the ground again "Shut your face" he said and she chuckled "there you go, I'm not worried anymore. Keep doing that for the next hour and I might get over the shock". He smiled a little "just take it, accept it and never mention it again Granger" he said but he didn't stand up to walk away.

"Awww, so I can't tell Harry and Ron so they never let you forget it?" she asked in a playful voice; what the fuck was she doing? She was joking with Draco Malfoy! Wow, this was to be an eventful day after all.

"You do and I will personally make sure you never speak a single word ever again" he drawled with an evil grin. She raised my eyebrows "Oh really Malfoy and how do you suppose that you'll pull that one off without having every Gryffindor boy running after you with pitchforks threatening to rip your balls off?" She asked, coaxing another smirk from him "still a fiery little bitch then. I'd have to do it quickly then wouldn't I? Pin you down, use a permanent silencing charm and then run for it" he said with an even wider smirk this time.

It felt so strange to actually have a proper conversation with him and he seemed to have changed so much. Actually, maybe he was always like that, maybe she just hated him too much to see it. Then she remembered his bullying and taunting as he used to call her mudblood and when she most needed help; when she was in the most pain, he stood back and watched.

But he had to. That was the point when she had saw Draco Malfoy for what he truly was; a terrified little boy forced to become something he wasn't in order to keep his family and himself alive. Someone light and innocent, if slightly tainted, lost amongst the most vile and evil creatures of the earth. And she would never forget the tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched her writhe around in the floor of his house as his aunt crucioed her into unconsciousness.

"You'd have to catch me first Malfoy" she said, winking at him. He laughed "well what is the point in running when you could have the experience of me pinning you to the ground Granger?" he said.

"I suppose it could anger the girls a bit but; like I said, you'd have to catch me first" he raised his eyebrows and looked up at the moon thoughtfully.

"God! Everything is so strange lately. Everything's changing Granger and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to fit myself into this 'new society' Shacklebolt's going on about building" he sighed, laying both his legs out straight and leaning back, his arms going out behind him to hold his back up.

"Have you ever thought that this 'new society' could be exactly what you need? You're father isn't here to force you into anything anymore Malfoy; you could use this whole thing as a chance to totally re-invent yourself. Your mother is trying. You have the chance to make the name Malfoy mean something different than a bigoted evil deatheater with more money than sense" she said, looking back out across the lake.

"How to kick a guy when he's down" he mumbled and she smiled to herself "Isn't that what you've been doing to me for the last eight years? Look Malfoy; it's my turn to do what is expected of me. I have to marry Ronald and become an Auror. I can't get out of that but you, you can be whoever you want to be and people will love you for it" she said again. He sat up and moved so he was facing her cross legged on the ground.

"Granger you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. That's the one thing I've learnt about myself. I thought I had to be that person because I needed to be alive. Now I see that you have to be yourself; fuck the world. Be who you are; nothing more, nothing less or die trying" he spoke firmly and wisely and after a while she looked into his eyes for the first time and grinned.

"Malfoy; don't change too much. It's too creepy for you to be caring and soppy. Go back to being a sarcastic bastard before you give me a heart attack" she said. He laughed "Well, that was the general idea Granger" she smiled softly "There it is" she breathed and stood up, brushing herself down.

"Where are you going?" he asked and she smirked bitterly.

"Wouldn't you like to know" she said sarcastically and he stood up as well, matching her height as she had grown somewhat during the time she spent away from the castle.

"That is why I asked Granger" he bit back, his own confused yet amused smirk appearing at the typicality of her posture.

"I found out that Ronald has been cheating on me this afternoon. I was going to stay with him and keep my good girl little mouth shut but you just convinced me to do what I should have done and extremely long time ago" she said and turned on her heel, marching back through the trees and up the hill. He just had time to register it and immediately began running after her, bemused but elated. There was nothing he would enjoy more than watching Weasley getting his arse kicked by a girl.

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><p>She pushed through the Gryffindor common room, leaving the portrait hole open for Malfoy to climb through, a sadistic and almost giddy grin on his face as he watched her storm up to a terrified looking Ron who was stood next to Harry.<p>

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Harry asked, slightly angry at his lack of information on this situation.

Hermione growled at him "He has a name. And it isn't relevant at the moment Harry, did you know?" she asked cryptically and angrily, not taking her eyes off Ron who was only a couple of centimeters taller than her.

"Hermione if I knew why you are acting like Medusa at the moment don't you think I would be pissed off about something as well?" he asked, equally annoyed. She glared at Ron, the bottom of her eye twitching.

"Are you going to tell him?" she asked Ron in a fierce voice and Ron backed away a little. Malfoy had never seen her look so dangerous.

"Hermione…" he was cut off as her palm collided with his face, throwing his head sideways as the slap echoed extremely loudly around the common room. Everyone was looking at them by now and people were standing up from their chairs to see what was going on.

"Hermione what the fuck?" Harry shouted and she looked absolutely livid, ignoring Harry she turned back to Ron and glared at him as he had stumbled back into the table and landed on the floor on his backside.

"Next time you want to fuck someone else, think about exactly what it means. I spent the afternoon actually contemplating whether I should keep shtum about the information I gathered because I thought I would cause too much uproar if I didn't get married and give you children. Well guess what Ronald? I'm done with you. This is the last time you will ever speak to me, this is the last time you treat me with the insignificance of a piece of shit on the bottom of your shoe" She yelled viciously. Tears were pouring down her cheeks now and her chest was heaving with emotion. Never had she been so angry.

"Hermione-"

"Save it for someone who gives a shit. Oh, and next time Lavender, make sure you don't leave your dirty knickers in my boyfriend's bed. I don't know where they've been" Hermione said, pulling a pair of pink thongs out of her jean pocket and throwing them at Lavenders face. Hermione wiped her face thoroughly and breathed in sharply, getting herself back under control.

She whipped around, getting many triumphant smiles and well done's as she walked back towards Malfoy and grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging him with her out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

"For this dance we'll move with each other. There ain't no other step than one foot, right in front of the other. There's so many wars we fought, there's so many things we're not, but with what we have, I promise you that, we're marching on." ~ One Republic - Marching on.

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><p>Hermione was in a slight daze. Part of her was devastated and was ripping her apart from the insides, creeping between her organs and sending random shivers through her slim, slender body. The other part felt free. Elation gripped at her heart and forced her to get up in the morning. It forced her to eat and to drink and to laugh and run away from Draco when he chased her playfully across what had quickly become their spot. That part of her was winning against the other fast and she was much, much happier in the aftermath of Ron's betrayal than she really should have been. Ginny was not talking to Ron and Harry was only answering the boy properly when it was absolutely necessary. Malfoy fixed him with evil stares and malicious glances from across the hall and it made her feel better that people weren't just taking his side because they felt sorry for him. He wasn't alone anyway, he had Lavender.<p>

Yes, Ron was outwardly and publicly dating Lavender Brown again. The strange thing was, Hermione wasn't even the slightest bit affected by it. She didn't feel jealous or upset or angry when she saw them together which was what made the whole thing easier this time round. They were perfectly welcome to each other.

No, the thing that hurt the most about the situation was the fact that she really had trusted Ron totally and completely. No where near as much as she trusted Harry, but she had trusted Ron. She just wasn't expecting to hear it, not in the slightest. And it was with Lavender of all people. The bastard may have just ripped her heart out, stamped on it and had done with her.

Yet her life was not void of light. She refused to do the typical teenage girl act and cry herself to sleep every night whilst starving herself and letting her grades drop to below unmarkable. No, Ronald dickhead Weasley was not worth her tears nor was he worth her letting her marks drop further than her mood. No way.

She had Malfoy now as well.

Shit, it sounded so fucking weird to actually be able to say those words but she did. She had Draco Malfoy as a friend… and she enjoyed it. She liked him genuinely. He was still a snarky git with sarcastic tendencies, the ability to sulk like a four year old and the swagger to rival that of MC effing Hammer. He was a good guy though.

Draco had lost a lot in the war, including himself to a certain extent. He had seen things, done things that would stick to his mind and haunt his dreams forever. They were not so different in that sense.

Something else was different as well… she enjoyed his company. He was interesting. He was clever and well educated, she had always been aware of that and she had nearly always found him scraping just below her 100% on everything; this meant that they could actually have a conversation that did not involve quidditch or Voldemort's depressing reign of doom upon the wizarding world. He read a lot. It was something that she had learnt comforted him, something that gave him focus and brought him peace through disappearing into someone else world for a little while.

He had actually managed to try and teach her something as well. To live in the moment.

Lately, she had been doing things on a whim. She felt elated because she did not have to worry about what Ron thought of her or what he would say if she did something he did not agree with. Now, she could do whatever she wanted. Within reason of course. She was finding that in the company of Malfoy, she could have fun and keep up her school work.

Every night they went for walks down by the lake and through Hogsmede and they went to parties every other weekend, even getting drunk now and again; which was totally out of character for Hermione but she just didn't care that much anymore.

She wore what she wanted too. Her wardrobe now contained tight jeans and revealing vests along with denim minis, shorts, tights, a whole case of make up, dresses and a lot of dress tops that were really way too short for her. She wore them anyway simply because she could. She wanted to because she got looks when she was looking nice, she got noticed. Boys caught their breath when they saw her and people conversed with her because she was not glued constantly to her books anymore.

She was transformed with only a few of her old traits staying with her. All because of Malfoy.

She wasn't acting up because of Ron or because she was deprived of attention. She was just happy now that she was confident, something she'd never been.

Harry looked better as well. She could tell he was recovering well from his losses and Ginny was holding up, her relationship with Harry keeping her mind distracted from her grief for Fred.

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><p>"Shut up!" she shouted at George who was banging his fork distractedly on the table, his old traits of resulting to annoy people when he was bored coming through, which was constantly now his brother was dead.<p>

"No! I'm not allowed to drink or smoke for a week and mums put some kind of hex on me that stops me from getting u-" "George I don't want to know! Well I don't know what you can do. Haven't you been to the shop or anything?" she asked with a slight cringe and he sighed, dropping his head forward onto the table hard.

"No, Verity's minding the shop for me for a few more weeks until I 'feel up to it' according to mum. She wont fucking leave me alone!" George ranted in a raised voice. It sounded normal but she could hear the underlining cracks and loss in it. They had only just had Fred's funeral and he was doing what one would call 'going off the rails'. Hermione knew how easy it was to do that when something was hurting you, she had gone through at least seven bottles of firewhiskey the night she'd found out her parents had died and had ended up in St Mungos having her stomach pumped.

All of a sudden, the song on the radio in the background changed to One Republic- Marching on and Hermione felt tears rise in her eyes as she looked down at George. She could tell he was close to breaking again and she hated it. She loved George, she always had; him and his brother. She was absolutely devastated when Fred had died, she could not even imagine how much pain George was in.

"George" she whispered softly. He did not move. She closed her eyes and a tear dripped down her face. She had never felt so sad.

"George" She whispered again and shuffled her chair round to him. She breathed out and leaned sideways, fitting herself into his back as she leaned her head on his spine. He was really, really warm and she could not resist snuggling into him closer. He sighed again and moved backward, throwing his arm around her and hugging her tightly as he pulled her across his lap.

"I miss you George. Come back to us" she whispered again somewhere between a sob and a breath. She felt him shiver slightly and a tear dropped on the top of her head.

"George?" she said croakily and she heard his hum of acknowledgment.

"Do you want me to remove the hex?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" She asked, surprised. He didn't normally knock for her until quite late in the afternoon. He shifted on his feet and swallowed slightly. She frowned, something was not right.

"Malfoy are you drunk?" she asked suspiciously and he shook his head defiantly like a three year old denying the presence of their hand in the biscuit tin. He laughed a little though and leaned into her "I'm lying, I am so drunk" he whispered in a playful voice and she creased her eyebrows together.

"Malfoy, it's the middle of the day" she informed, her voice full of disapproval. "I am aware of that Granger. Do not tell me that you have never been drunk in the daytime before" he slurred and stumbled a little bit, loosing his balance and falling into her. She caught him and helped him to stand properly again. He sighed deeply and smacked his mouth together. "I feel like I ate a tonne of shit" he said thoughtfully and she narrowed her eyes. "Malfoy fuck off and sober yourself up" she ordered and went to slam the portrait hole in his face. He stuck his foot out just in time and pushed it back open so she was in full view for him to see.

"You had sex" he stated. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked angry "How the fuck did you work that one out Malfoy?" she asked, her voice raising a few decibels. He looked distant and withdrawn now as he stared straight into her eyes.

"I can smell it on you to start off with. Secondly your eyes are all dazed and you look relaxed and happier than normal" he said. "And finally, you're in nothing but your knickers and someone elses shirt and your bag is thrown about on the sofa in there which leads me to believe that you just flooed back from whoever you've been screwing's house" he said. She glared at him evilly.

"So I had sex. People fuck, that's the way life goes Malfoy. You fuck women all the time. The difference with me is, when I do it, I remember everything and it means something" she snapped and kicked his leg hard so he collapsed in pain. She shut the painting behind him with a huff of anger and disapproval.

If Malfoy did not know better, he would say that the painful twisting and plunging feeling in his stomach was jealousy. He did know better though and he wasn't jealous that she'd been out fucking someone, the problem was that he knew exactly who she'd been to bed with. She'd told him that she'd be going to said persons house the previous morning and he did not like the fact that she was getting involved with someone so messed up.

George Weasley was fucked in the head, Malfoy had seen it first hand when the man had gotten drunk and turned up in Hogsmede a few weeks back and Hermione had decided that it was her responsibility to stop him murdering some poor unsuspecting wizard on their way out of the three broomsticks. George had proceeded to break his own foot, punch three men and blow up some kind of broken down shed before Hermione had finally managed to hit him with a stun spell and had taken him back to his house to recover. She had taken to dropping in on the man every few days to just be around him. She'd said that she felt her presence soothed him slightly and kept him that slight little inch further away from insanity. Malfoy had called her bigheaded.

But hanging around George like a bad smell and fucking the guy were two different things and to be perfectly honest, Malfoy was worried about her. He knew she put up a strong front but she had been known to fall in love easily in the past and he knew that George would not intentionally hurt her but the man's twin brother had just died, he was in no fit state to maintain a true romantic relationship that existed beyond the boundaries of sex.

And now his leg was bleeding and his head was spinning as he tried to get his lungs to accept the Oxygen the air around him was supposed to be providing him as pain ripped through his lower calf muscles and knee cap. He growled in frustration directed at the fiery witch he had recently befriended and shifted sideways onto his hip so he could flip his good leg over and twist himself onto shaky all fours. He grabbed a nearby banister and hauled himself to his feet, gasping and swearing under his breath as all the blood rushed downward and a new gush of warm liquid leaked out onto his pale skin. It was dangerous to walk through a castle covered in moving staircases when you were pissed out your head, angry with your best friend and limping heavily, dripping blood all over the floor as you went. But unfortunately, he was Draco Malfoy and danger was his middle name.

He just received evil looks and mocking laughs as he pushed himself to stumble through the corridors to the hospital wing; he was in no fit state to try and heel the wound himself. Plus, he desperately needed several potions to sober him up and prevent a hangover the next morning. All of a sudden, he'd decided being totally rat arsed in the middle of the day was not a good move and most certainly hadn't helped him forget the fact that his mother was becoming more of a drunken whore than he was lately.

Malfoy was okay though, pain was nothing new to him and Snape had taught him how to build up a tolerance to it. Like everything that hurts you, if you give yourself a daily dose of it, you become almost completely immune to it. Snape had discovered that Vampires could become immune to the effects of vervain if ingested in small amounts on a regular schedule; he had used this as an example although pain was a different thing entirely and was much less easier to lessen.

But every day, Malfoy had hurt himself slightly for thirteen years. Everyday, Malfoy would cut himself or dip his hands in burning hot water or something. He knew it sounded strange and bordering on self harm when said out loud but it had helped him. Now the torture curses were mere uncomfortable twinges in his muscles that paralyzed him for seconds at a time rather than making him writhe about in agony. Gashes and lacerations only affected him if deep and burning if his skin hardly even phased him at all. Things like that, they helped. Especially when your mother and father were the weakest most cowardly deatheaters ever in existence to be humiliated to the point when their name meant nothing to the world or the inner circle of hell raisers they were part of.

But this stupid cut on his leg would not stop fucking bleeding and he only managed to reach the boundaries of the hospital wing before he collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

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><p>"Why is everyone looking at us?" Malfoy sighed, looking around the room at all the people dancing and drinking and talking. Really, the GryffindorSlytherin party was turning out to be quite the success. Seamus Finnigan had his arm wrapped around Astoria's waist from behind and both of them were jumping wildly to the beat of the music. Dean Thomas and Pansy were on the dance floor but were doing anything but dancing as they grinded up against each other; it was enough to make anyone a little nauseated.

"Because you have your hand on my thigh and I'm sat on your lap drinking neat Vodka?" she offered and he laughed a little, rolling his eyes drunkenly.

"Silly people. WE AREN'T TOGETHER! WE'RE JUST FRIENDS" he yelled but no one really seemed to be listening and she only giggled into the warm crook of his pale neck as he rested his slightly pointy chin on the top of her head.

"Are you really fucking George then?" Malfoy asked, hidden concern lacing his words as he tried, even when he was half cut, to appear nonchalant.

"Malfoy, it was one time. We both needed it and it just kind of happened. I promise you, it hasn't happened since and will never be happening again" she said firmly. He stuck up one eyebrow and shrugged "I couldn't give a shit who you shag Granger, as long as you're okay" he said. For the first time in her life, she could have sworn he was blushing but she soon forgot it when her favorite song came on.

"Let's dance!" she squealed and pulled him onto the dance floor as they began to move to the beat, all of their troubles floated away for a few seconds. The music slowed into another song and they changed their position as her hands scraped softly up around his neck and he held her around the waist, she could feel Ron's eyes on them as they relaxed and she smiled to herself.

"Malfoy, I've decided that I don't love Ron anymore. I'm over him" she stated as if it were worthy of an encyclopedia. He looked down at her and smirked, knowing that it wasn't the whole truth but she was starting to move on and that's all he wanted for her.

"Sure Granger" he said without any real conviction.

"Malfoy?" she asked against his neck as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Hmmm?" he replied and she suppressed a shiver as his breath tickled her bare skin by her collar bone.

"Thank you"


	5. Chapter 5

"And they say that a hero can save us, I'm not gonna stand here and wait. I hold onto the wings of the eagles, watch as they all fly away" ~ Chad Kroeger

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><p>Lie number 1<p>

When life gets hard, you party…. right? No, it was not as simple as that. Alcohol was a depressant and no matter how good it felt to relax and feel as though you could do anything and not be judged because you were drunk, you would always end up feeling worse than you did to start off with.

Hermione was somewhere in between the two statements. There was nothing better than getting blind drunk and bungee jumping off the astronomy tower when she was pissed off with Ron (she and Malfoy had attempted this once only to receive several weeks of detention from Professor McGonagall for being severely drunk and disorderly on school premises) but it hurt in the morning. She remembered everything she did normally but she didn't half get the worse hangovers.

She and Malfoy almost always woke up somewhere in the middle of a field or in a random house; she even woke once to the sound of Malfoy's yell as he realized that they were in a car lot in the middle of Rome. But doing these things, acting like a drug crazed teenager with a reckless best friend, it all made up for the childhood she never really had. Every Outstanding she got on her essays were just a bonus to her life now. Grades and books and ridiculously long skirts were no longer what defined her. She could let loose now. She could act in the moment.

She was still Hermione Granger though so she worried and fussed about the consequences after but it didn't matter to her because she now had all these brilliant memories, drunk and sober. It didn't matter that her split with Ron was front page news in Witch Weekly nor that the Patil twins had took it upon them to ask her whether Malfoy was as good in bed as everyone said he was; she had her friends, her books and a bottle of firewhiskey. That was all she really needed.

"Miss Granger, could you tell me what I mean by the term soul bonding?" McGonagall asked as Hermione daydreamed off into space momentarily as her professor's stern voice brought her back to the classroom.

"Soul Bonding is the term used to describe the particular branch out or spark of magic that occurs when one meets their soul mate. It is based entirely on rumours and claims of others and has never actually been scientifically or magically proven. Furthermore, soul bonding is very imprecise and is known only to happen within only a small number if couples throughout history. There has not been a case of this reported for about fifty years however it normally happens when two people have known each other for a very long time and have never actually realised that there was anything ever between them" Hermione finished with the perfect answer as usual.

When they had rejoined Hogwarts for their final year, a new class on the basics of human instinct and emotions had been added to the curriculum and Hermione was finding it difficult to keep up. She had been very used to being blunt with describing how she felt until now and had been told that she would not ace in it unless she revealed, along with all the other students, exactly how she felt about the more defined aspects of her life. Shit.

"Very good Miss Granger as usual but what do you think about this particular term? Do you believe it is possible?" she inquired. The class braced themselves for another lecture from their teacher after Hermione would surly give her emotionless reply.

"Actually, I think it's a load of bullshit" the class gasped but McGonagall simply looked pleasantly surprised by the irritated tone behind her student's answer.

"Please elaborate Miss Granger?... Without the language." McGonagall said, going back to sit behind her desk and lacing her fingers together carefully, surveying Hermione much like Dumbledore used to Harry.

"I think that when you fall in love, you change. Every time you fall for someone you alter. There is no one person for anyone, no soul mate. You spend your life falling in and out of love with people, that's the way the world works. Your soul does not bond itself with anyone else's. If it did, it would be incredibly unstable and almost as dangerous as that of Tom Riddle's. Our soul defines us and who we are; if it joins with anyone else's, we would change who we are and take on a lot of that person's traits. That should not be the case. If you are in love it is because the person you love, likes you exactly the way you are. It had never been solidly proven and to be honest with you, love is the most overrated emotion recorded and has even been known to kill people as well as keeping them alive e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, even Cat and Alfie from Eastenders. It all comes down to the way one looks at the world. If my soul is bonded with some long lost Romeo from my past in a few years, you can laugh at me and I will willingly admit that I was wrong. I have been told on many occasions that I need to 'broaden my mind'. I think it's bullshit" she repeated strongly, a defiant yet passionate look in her eyes. It was beautiful to watch Hermione answer questions Malfoy thought, she really was incredibly unique.

"Erga vide quae orbis ut tibi vide ipse est ut scire sibi. To see the world as you see yourself is to know yourself. Miss Granger, it is not a crime to see things in your own way. Fact is truth and will never be doubted… you must also remember that the most real things are what we cannot see though. If you would all flick to page 304 in your books, I want you to read up on the term soul bonding and start an essay on it. Remember, PEE paragraphs. Give your point, evidence and explanation and then give me a conclusion summing it all up and giving me and in-depth insight to your own opinion on the subject. We will talk more about it next week for now do as much as you can and then finish it for homework. Oh, and Miss Granger? Dramatic and brilliant as your answer was, ten points from Gryffindor for the use of innapropriate language in my class" she ordered sternly and busied herself marking coursework for the OWL students.

Hermione could feel Ron's eyes on her yet again but she dare not look back. Of all the emotions that passed through her brain and heart, love had always been the most important to her. It had been her love for her boys that had kept her fighting when she felt her world slipping from beneath her. It had been her love for her parents that had forced her to wipe their memories and hide them, leading regrettably to their death but giving them a little more time to live. It was love for her school that had made her put everything on the line on the 2nd May not even a year ago to keep it standing as fully as possible and to save all her friends who attended. It had been her love for Ron that had made her trust him so; made her feel like she wanted to be with him forever no matter how much they argued.

It had been her love for him that had made her be with him so that he could make her cry and shout and act up and so that she could grow even stronger than before. So it wasn't like she hadn't experienced love and she knew it to be somewhat of a pain in the arse rather than some glorious 'soul bondage' that made you weep with joy.

"Granger, ex is glaring at you meaninglessly again" Malfoy whispered to her from his seat next to her and she groaned, dropping her head on the desk in front of them.

"I'm going to hex his ball of in a minute" she said a little to loudly as McGonagall snapped her head up and glared in her direction. Malfoy nudged her with his elbow and she looked up from the desk and remembered that she was supposed to be writing. She picked up her quill and dipped it into the ink, not bothering to read the page mentioned as she already knew it off by heart anyway.

She sighed and began to write…

_'Rumors of the term soul bonding date back to around 1890 when witches and wizards found their 'sexual revolution'. Much like the situation in Berlin in the muggle's Second World War, magical persons had discovered that if citizens just had sexual intercourse everywhere and anywhere more often, less people would frown upon it. Then, as the sex craze began, rumors started pouring out that certain people were having sex and then experiencing what would later be described as 'soul bondage'. It was written down as a clinical description when someone actually found themselves unable to be without their partner at all. The notes taken from this particular case said that this man experienced a sudden burst of magic when simply touching an old friend that made caused them both to black out and wake up with severe migraines and the inability to be away from one another for too long as it would become extremely painful and hard to breath. Jonathan Thomas, a doctor at the time wrote in his journal that the man seemed genuinely in pain from not being with his partner but that he could find nothing physically wrong with any part of his physical anatomy. Historians and recent healers have since bashed down claims of bondage and put it down to a 'mental stage of teenage love sickness' or 'deep infatuation causing nausea and (much to certain people's dismay) severe cliché-ness'._

_Other sources suggest otherwise but something so…'_

Hermione lost her inspiration there and groaned, dropping her quill on the wood and turning in her chair to face her ex-boyfriend and her best friend who were both sat directly behind her and Draco.

"If you don't stop fucking staring at me Weasley I will rip your eyes out and make you eat them for breakfast tomorrow. Seriously, get a fucking life and stop trying to ruin mine" she hissed angrily, venom coating every syllable.

Ron looked upset and annoyed by her sudden embarrassing outburst.

"I want to talk to you. After class" he announced, ignoring her previous cause of irritation and looking at her straight in the eyes now. She narrowed her eyes and creased her forehead up, looking from Ron to Harry who was looking very uncomfortable.

"This isn't one of those fazes we go through when we don't speak for a few months and then I have to end up being the one to apologize. I told you, I have no reason to talk to you anymore Ronald. You are no longer my friend and you stopped being my boyfriend the moment you got your tiny little dick out for that blonde slag over there. I'm done with you and I'm sorry that it's turned out this way but you brought it all on yourself. I feel nothing for you anymore so just leave. Me. Alone" she whispered dangerously calmly and before he could reply, she turned back to her parchment and was pretending to be reading over what she'd written so far.

Malfoy sighed inwardly, sending one final glare at Ron before copying her and turning back to their desk.

"You want to go out tonight" Malfoy guessed and she nodded, looking at him intensely.

"We're going to get absolutely hammered. It's Friday so we'll be all sober on Saturday. Tonight I want to forget everything" she said coldly, knowing Ron was listening in to them, she added "And wear that leather jacket and your skinnies, I'm rather partial to you when you go out in them" she said, a cheeky grin threatening to pull at the corners of her mouth.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows but smirked, knowing exactly what she was doing. He decided just to go that tiny bit further "Only if you wear your mini skirt".

* * *

><p>"Malfoy?" she asked him as they settled themselves in the library and she sorted out the list of books she was about to go and find. He relaxed in his chair, lighting up a cigarette and conjuring an ashtray for himself as he surveyed her questioningly.<p>

"Granger?" he replied and she looked at him with a little nervousness.

"I was thinking"

"Hardly a rare occurrence"

She ignored him. "Harry told me that Ron was saying the other day that he still loves me. What do you think about doing me a massive favour?" she asked and his questioning look turned into suspicious as she shifted her weight onto her right leg.

"Granger, you know I am not in the habit of making promises until I know what they involve. Go on then, break it to me" he said expectantly and she bit her lip a little before drawing in a sharp, shaky breath.

"He treated me like shit… I want to make him feel like that. Like he's stupid and pathetic and unworthy. I want to break his heart" she said slowly and he leaned forward, subconsciously flicking ash away from the nib of his fag as he looked at her properly.

"You've got my attention. What did you have in mind?" Malfoy asked and then she broke into an evil grin to rival that of a Slytherin.

"I want you to be my fake boyfriend"

* * *

><p>Friday night passed normally for Draco and Hermione as they both went out to London and ended up in Plymouth completely hungover in an unfamiliar hotel room, sleeping on the floor.<p>

Hermione was the first to wake on Saturday morning and she pushed herself up from the carpet and wiped drool from her cheek as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to let her eyes adjust to the light while her head stopped twinging painfully.

She noted Draco asleep on the floor next to her clad in his clothes from the night before. She looked around and sighed sleepily, getting to her feet with a yawn. She did see that there were two single beds available so why she had woken up on the floor, she had no idea but she did not particularly care at that point in time as an image of jumping off a very high diving tower on a coastal line she vaguely recognized flashed across the front of her brain and she groaned. She sat on the bed and grabbed the fabric of her slightly revealing green vest top and brought it up to her nose.

Just as she suspected; it smelt strongly of sea water, alcohol and salty fish and chips. They had a good night then, ideal.

What was not ideal was the throbbing brain and sore stomach she was nursing along with some kind of stiffness in her wrist. She must have hurt it whist diving of a fifty foot piece of rusty metal on top of rocks into a high tide of sea at three in the morning. No, not very good at all.

"Malfoy get up, McGonagall comes looking for us every Saturday morning. We need to get back to the castle" she said loudly, throwing a pillow at his head as he groaned and rolled over, lifting his chin up to squint at her through sleep covered eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked croakily and she glanced sideways at her watch.

"Half seven" she answered with another sleepy groan as he sat up clumsily and pulled onto all fours, blinking rapidly at the floor in attempt to get his bearings.

"Give me a secon- wait, why are my clothes damp?" he asked confusedly and she sighed, pulling her hair back into a pony tail with the hair band she always kept on her wrist.

"We jumped off that diving post thing on Plymouth Hoe" she informed with annoyance. He looked up at her and smiled "I'm an expert at jumping of hoes" he remarked and she rolled her eyes, standing up and offering him her hand.

He took it and grabbed her wrist when her felt okay, checking his pockets for their wands and then apparating to the outskirts of Hogsmede ready to shower, eat and then start faze one of their new plan.

* * *

><p>"Get the fuck over here then" she shouted in mock annoyance, playfulness lacing her words and he smiled, she was almost as good of an actor as him.<p>

He went towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer so there lips were a hairs breath away. He smirked a little, feeling the burn of Weasley's eyes on them and relishing in the bastard's anger for a second before he pressed their lips together in the most believable kiss in the history of fake relationships.

He could almost have convinced himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi!

So I finally got round to seeing Deathly Hallows Part 2. Let me tell you, I still haven't stopped crying and I came out of the cinema at half past six yesterday evening. Anyway, hope you guys like this. I wanted to make it a little less 'cliche' in the teenage worries department and then I came up with a problem for Draco worthy of Eastenders! Oh Dear... Thank you for the reviews though, they're brilliant. Let me know what you think ;)

Dee xxx

* * *

><p>Draco strolled into the breakfast hall the next morning and slid into the seat next to Hermione, placing a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth and reaching over the table to grab a piece of toast, making sure to flash Ron a mocking grin before sitting down properly and lacing his fingers together with Hermione's on the table and began to eat.<p>

"What the fuck Hermione?" Ron shouted all of a sudden and she jumped, whipping her gaze around to him.

She was about to insult him when she saw the look in his eyes.

Betrayal.

Not once had Ron ever looked at her in such a way. He'd been furious with her, frightened of her, wary and worried but never had he looked at her with such anger twindged disappointment and betrayal. She hated him for what he did to her but she had loved him for far longer and she just could not do this. She could kill people and curse people and protect herself against giants and Acromantulas but she could not hurt her ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with the one girl she had ever been jealous of. She knew she was probably crazy but it was true.

She could not bring herself to dig the knife in any deeper so she simply stood up, still holding Draco's hand and pulled him out of the hall.

She had thought her life was on the up, that things were getting better. Now she could feel everything getting on top of her again and she couldn't think straight. She couldn't relax, all her muscles were tensing and as she pulled him sideways along a corridor, she ended up collapsing against the wall, letting her body drop until her bottom hit the floor. She sat there, knees facing up to the ceiling her head forward and her fingers scraping through her hair over her scalp.

Malfoy frowned and crouched in front of her, reaching out slowly to stick his hand in a gap and lift her chin up to face him. He softly brushed the hair out of her face, his thumbs tracing over her cheeks carefully, wiping away the tears that must have fallen at some point when they'd been running.

She looked at him like she never had before and he realized, she'd never actually shown any vulnerability in front of him before even when they'd been enemies, she'd never allowed herself to cry in front of him. She just looked… tired.

"He's not worth it" Draco said and she tilted her head to the side, a gentle smile coming up on the left side of her face as she continued to look straight into his eyes.

"Draco Malfoy, you have no idea what you've done for me" she croaked and he shook his head, looking up to the high wall. "I let you scream" he said so quietly, she hardly heard him and her eyebrows creased together again. "I let you hurt."

"And I'm thankful for it. I wouldn't be as strong as I am now if all those things hadn't have happened to me. Good or bad, I wouldn't change any of it because every little thing is part of who I am. You are part of me now… whether I like it or not" she half chuckled the last line and he couldn't help but smile at her.

"Shut it" he snapped playfully and she wiped her face stubbornly. "God I'm such a twat" she said and he rolled his eyes.

"You care about him Granger, you always will. Until you accept that along with the fact that he knowingly hurt you, you won't be able to move on" he said firmly.

"Are you fake dumping me?" she asked in mock shock and he laughed freely. She had never seen such an amazing smile that made her heart swell and a warm feeling spread to her finger tips.

"Don't you think I should?" he asked.

She drew in a strengthening breath and nodded.

"I'm ready to talk to him now."

* * *

><p>"I don't understand what you want me to say" he shouted back at her. She was livid, hysterical even. Her eyes were wide and tears of anger ran down her face.<p>

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT WHAT _I_ WANT YOU TO SAY! THIS IS ABOUT WHAT _YOU_ WANT TO SAY! _YOU_ WANTED TO TALK TO ME SO FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!" she screamed and thanked the heavens that there was a silencing charm on the boy's dorm because she might end up murdering if he didn't open his eyes and say what he needed to soon.

"I'M SORRY!" he bellowed and she shook her head. "Sorry that you got caught?" she asked with a sob and he groaned.

"No you insufferable bitch! I'm sorry that I hurt you! I'm so fucking sorry; I didn't want to hurt you… ever. This isn't right. I love you Hermione, I always have and I always will, in some kind of way. Lavender means nothing to me compared to you. I don't want you to hate me! It hurts so fucking much when I see you finally becoming confident and I know I didn't do that for you, I wasn't there to make you that way. Malfoy did it and you don't even see it! That kiss the other day, it was a lot of things but it wasn't fake. Hermione, you're a good actress but you're not that good. The way you look at him, it's the same way you used to look at me" he yelled but his voice softened towards the end of his rant with strain and hurt.

For a second, she was stunned. Ron had never put her on the spot like this before. He had never let out his emotions in such an open way, he was normally so withdrawn. The last time she could remember him having such an outburst was when they were running from Voldemort and he'd left her and Harry in the tent.

"How dare you accuse me of anything like that? I'm still in love with you for god's sake!" she screamed loudly, making him double take and reassess the situation quickly. His eyes looked gentler and he breathed in to gather his courage before he sat down on the bottom of his bed and looked at her again.

"It is possible to love two people at the same time Hermione" Ron said in a tired, disappointed tone. She glared at him but could not find words to throw back at him.

Of course she loved Malfoy, he was her best friend but she'd thought it was the same kind of love she felt for Harry until Ron had started spouting all this rubbish. She was doubting herself all of a sudden; she had not doubted herself in a long time and it made her uneasy and angry.

"Well I'm not one to juggle between two people if you know what I mean" she snapped sharply and sat down on Dean's bed, playing with the pillow absentmindedly as she struggled to sort out her thoughts.

"You've been dating Malfoy Hermione!" Ron stated exasperatedly.

"I told you, it was fake. I wanted you to hurt like I did; I wanted you to feel the sting when I betrayed you so spectacularly. I wonder Ronald, what exactly was going through your head when you were fucking the brains out of that filthy little whore?" Hermione asked sincerely, sitting up and crossing her legs in a more comfortable position.

"I… I don't really know. I was so, so drunk and I didn't actually know what I was doing and I felt like a horrible person the next day. I wasn't considerate either; I just kicked her out of my bed and begged her to shut up about it. I'm surprised she kept quiet for as long as she did to be honest because I've always been a bastard to her, I don't deserve her anymore than I deserve yo-"

"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU DEFEND HER! SHE PRETENDED FOR YEARS AND YEARS TO BE MY FRIEND. WHEN SHE KNEW I LIKED YOU, SHE STUCK HER TONGUE DOWN YOUR THROAT IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE OF GRYFFINDOR TOWER AND HUMILIATED ME. SHE THEN PROCEEDED TO DIG THE KNIFE IN JUST A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME UNTIL I WAS CLOSE TO KILLING HER AND THEN SHE FUCKING TWISTED IT. I GOT YOU BACK! RON, I GOT YOU BACK AND I WAS FINALLY ALLOWED TO LOVE YOU WITHOUT ANYONE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO OR WHO TO FIGHT. NOW SHE SLEEPS WITH YOU! SHE FUCKING SLEEPS WITH YOU IN YOUR BED! THE SAME BED WE SLEPT IN TOGETHER. YOU MAKE ME FUCKING SICK TO THE BONES AND SO DOES SHE-"

"Stop it! Stop it right there okay. You told me you were here to talk to me not shout a load of shit I already know. Now you told me that you're still in love with me and I know I hurt you badly and I'm not going to get down on my knees and beg you to take me back because quite frankly, it wouldn't be real anymore. I'm in love with you Hermione, I always will be to a certain extent but I'm dealing with it in the only way I know how. Lavender is unbelievably dumb and annoying and pathetically clingy but she's kind and she cares about me. I like her. Probably not in the way that I should but I do and that's something to go on. But Malfoy? Hermione the guy stood back and watched while you were tortured, he let Lestrange carve into your skin with black magic and all of a sudden, you have these feelings for him? You've forgiven him? I would say that's more twisted than anything I've done here" Ron said bitterly and strangely calm.

Hermione couldn't speak, she was once again in shock that Ron could actually say that her forgiveness of Malfoy was more unforgivable that his betrayal of her. And that was it. She had thought that there was something between them that she could save and nurse back to health, that she could someday get her best friend back. Now she saw there was nothing; he was blaming her for something he did and so she no longer felt a thing for him. No anger, no hate, no love. Not even like. Just nothing.

She did the only thing she could think to do. She stood up and walked across the room towards the doorway. She turned to look at him before she left and she smiled calmly, her eyes suddenly at ease and restrained.

"Ron… goodbye" she said with conviction and closed the door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Granger, what the hell am I supposed to do?" Malfoy exclaimed as he growled, aiming his fist at the nearest wall.<p>

She'd been walking down the corridor wiping her tears after she'd just officially broke all ties with Ron when Malfoy had grabbed her and pulled her into the room of requirement. She'd simply sat down and watched him pace the room frantically for a while before she'd grown tired of not knowing what was upsetting him and had shouted at him to freeze. Of course, being Malfoy he'd carried on walking backwards and forwards until she couldn't stand it anymore and had stood up and kicked him in the leg, making him curse loudly at her and glare evilly from where he stood. He'd then told her what was bothering him and nothing could have prepared her for what he'd said.

"I… I'm not sure" she spoke quietly and slowly, trying to get over the shock of hearing it. It didn't really seem real and for some reason, her insides were sinking a little and her stomach felt as though someone had filled it with ice cold mountain water. She was doing everything in her power not to show her true emotions on the matter.

"I swear to you, it isn't mine! But she's threatened to tell everyone that it is if I don't give her a load of money. I can't do that Granger, she'd never stop if I give her one lot. I don't even understand why she picked me" Malfoy ranted, kicking a table in anger as he stalked passed it, still pacing continuously.

"I understand that you're angry-"

"Angry? I'm fucking furious!" he shouted and kicked something else. She didn't like it, he hadn't been this angry in a very long time and she knew all to well of his extremely explosive Malfoy temper.

"I get that okay! I get it but you're and easy, believable target. You're a man whore, lets face it and you're filthy rich now your father isn't spending your money in ridiculous amounts, that'd be pretty impossible from beyond the grave. Of course she'd go to you, why wouldn't she? You treated her like shit when you slept with her last year and you were a deatheater at the time so you were probably even more insufferable" she explained slowly, knowing that id he saw why he was being targeted, he would calm down a little.

He still looked ready to massacre the whole of Hogwarts including McGonagall but he somewhat relaxed slightly.

"I refuse to give that slag a Galleon Granger" he said in a tired, determined tone and she sighed, pinching her nose between her thumb and finger. She lifted her head and caught his glare, a strange, unreadable look on her face.

"You may not have to. Malfoy, she's not even pregnant"

"How do you know?"

"She's infertile"


	7. Chapter 7

HEY!

Just to let you know, I am aware that Hermione drifts in and out of character now and again but that's because she's developing and becoming different. I wanted her to be like this and I am trying to keep some of her old traits in there.

So I'm going to try and come up with another situation for the next few chapters but again, as I think all Dramione's should really be written like, I'm trying to take the pairing a little slow. It's different to my other Dramiones though so it will be quicker than the others.

By the way, your reviews are all soo amazing, you guys are great! And as always, thanks to the people favoriting and alerting, you're imense as well ;)

Let me know what you think.

Dee

xxxxx

* * *

><p>"Before you met me, I was a wreck but things were kind of heavy. You brought me to life" ~ Katy Perry- Teenage Dream<p>

* * *

><p>The wind blew softly. The trees rustled in a silent, slow dance to the gentle hum of the afternoon breeze. The sky was darkened slightly and it was quite cold in the wind as it blew through her messy waves and bushy curls but she did not bother to wipe the warm tears sticking to her face and making stray strands of hair attach to her skin.<p>

She wore her usual modern belly top and denim mini shorts with a pair of plain, brown flat boots. The chill of the weather cut into her skin and whipped through he cobwebs in her brain but she daren't let herself shiver for fear of breaking down into uncontrollable sobs. Her ribs ached terribly from trying to suppress the natural reaction to such extreme sadness. Her arms hung loosely at her sides as tracks of black ran down her face.

She felt someone arrive at the scene carefully and she could feel his hesitant aura lingering in the air but she felt the heat of his body as he came up behind her and stood, staring down at the headstone with her.

It wasn't much but she could have sworn the stabbing feeling in her gut eased slightly.

"I won't always be able to pick you up when you're down Granger; I'm just as messed up as you. But I swear to you, I will always be willing to lay down and brood right next to you" his voice hit her ear drums and she closed her eyes, feeling comfort and warmth wash over her and flow through her veins. She felt herself loosing it though, her control was breaking down and only when he wrapped his arms around her did she actually let go of the tension and pain rising in her organs like acid bile, slowly dissolving her bones.

"I miss them" she whispered halfway between a breath and a sob.

He breathed in deeply and rested cheek against her head, closing his eyes. Merlin, he really did love her. She was his best friend. He was unable to determine exactly when he had let his prejudices go or when he'd ended up respecting her like she was his equal, just that he did. She was the line that marked the point in his life when he'd become who he really was, the thing that made him change for the better and get his humanity back.

She had no idea of the significance she had in his continued existence. She meant everything to him. Even now, that voice at the back of his mind telling him that she didn't belong on the planet, that she didn't deserve to live amongst them sounded. It was a mere ghost of a whisper and it was sad but that was all he had left of his father and even that he chose to ignore. She was insufferable, know it all, infuriatingly stubborn and curious, temperamental and stupidly brave. She could sulk almost as bad as he could and she had a fiery temper to rival Lily Evans'.

She was also unconventionally beautiful in the most unique, natural way. She was confident and courageous and compassionate and driven. She was neither light nor dark now and she had more scars to wear than him. He could not really describe what exactly it was that had originally drawn him to her, just that he was grateful for it. They fought still of course, they always would. They were Malfoy and Granger, that's just the way it was but they could laugh about it later now, have the right amount of steadiness to apologize to one another without being too proud.

They were friends full stop.

* * *

><p>Hermione was laid on her bed. The moonlight streamed in cool, relaxing shades of silver through the open curtains on the other side of the room and a smooth breeze blew through the crack in the old window.<p>

Her thoughts were calm for once if slightly bitter. She was simply going over the last twenty four hours in her mind. How erratically she had been acting the last few days with her sudden decisions and bursts of anger; she could put it all down to war trauma she supposed. Her parents were dead, she'd found them on the floor in their 'safe house' in Australia. Her friends had now been buried six feet into the ground, that was a lot for an eighteen year old girl to take in and now there was no dangerous missions or deatheaters for her to take her frustration out on.

She knew she could not blame her behavior on what she had been through though, that would be too easy. She couldn't really find the right reason as to why she was having hysterical outbursts and shouting fits when she was pissed off. Maybe it was because she was afraid that old Hermione had left her persona completely… but that wasn't true. She read like her life depended on it when she had the time and she still did all her homework as soon as she got it. She was still loyal and completely dedicated to Harry and all her friends when they needed her. She still answered questions in class and nagged Harry and… Ron. That was it. Ron.

She thought it would be okay, that she had accepted loosing someone who'd been so important to her for such a long time. She really was okay with it and it didn't bother her much… and that was what was bothering her. She couldn't get her head around why she didn't mind the loss of their relationship. She absolutely despised not knowing things and being confused, it ate her up. She hated not having reasons and loathed when people didn't give her straight answers. And now she hated herself because she couldn't find the clues within her mind to point her in the direction of the correct solution. She just wanted to know why she didn't love Ron anymore, why she had stopped loving him so quickly.

Then she realized. Her body had just forced her to stop. It was making her too tired, too worn down and so now she just mourned the loss of their friendship, missed the bickering and secret smiles. She missed him. But it wasn't paining her like it should have done; it wasn't breaking her heart like he had. She missed him, but she didn't miss loving him. It terrified her and she was worried. But when she was worried, her mother had told her to "Just don't do that then". She breathed in deeply, letting the Oxygen soothe the muscles of her brain, easing her headache. Tomorrow, she would go to Ron. She would explain her feelings to him calmly, apologize for being a crazy bitch and leave their relationship on an understanding… she just could not be arsed to hate him anymore.

Then she would focus on Malfoy's problem, shaking off the twisted feeling in her gut and making an oath to think about that in the morning, she took her watered down nightly dose of dreamless sleep potion and turned over beneath the covers as sleep took her.

* * *

><p>Astoria Greengrass yelped as she felt someone grab hold of the back of her shirt collar and slam her body against the wall. Immediately, soft, long, elegant fingers threaded through the hair on the back of her head, ensuring that she wouldn't move from where she was pinned against cold hard stone.<p>

"So I hear you're being a poisonous little bitch again" a very well spoken, suspiciously calm, feminine English accent said to her, breath fanning across her face a little unevenly.

People had turned to look at them now and several of the men occupying the scene had glued their eyes on the clashing girls.

"What the fuck?" Astoria exclaimed but sobbed a little when the fingers tightened on the clump of hair and pain shot through her scalp.

"I just thought I'd enlighten people as to the true facts behind the bullshit you've been spreading around. I mean to say, Draco will not be giving you anything for your made up child Astoria" Hermione Granger said, typically vocabularily aware of everything she was saying. She was keeping a very alarming sense of coolness to the situation even if there was a very frightening warning tone behind her words.

Draco pushed through the crowd gathering around the scene and sighed tiredly.

"Hermion-"

"Shut it Malfoy" Hermione snapped out at him before he could even finish his sentence and he didn't even bother to stop her, knowing he'd most probably loose both his testicles if he so much as got anywhere near them.

"What fake baby? My child is perfectly real thank you very much Granger" Astoria retorted angrily, starting to become more uncomfortable with the position she'd been stuck in.

"Oh dear, I see you're as much of a liar as ever. Do I have to… persuade you to tell the truth? I haven't got all day you see and it would somewhat put a damper on my record if I hexed out your vocal cords so you couldn't tell another fib ever again?" Hermione said, a dangerous look of mock boredom coming over her face as she looked straight into her eyes.

"Fuck you!" Astoria cried and one of the boys behind them whispered to his friend "Wouldn't this be awkward if she actually was pregnant". Hermione hissed and Malfoy looked sideways at the boy.

"I wouldn't piss her off mate. Hot as she is when she's angry… dismemberment really isn't the best way to end up" Malfoy said with raised eyebrows and the boy coward from the scene slightly, making several of his friends laugh.

"No, you fuck half the school actually. I prefer men… mostly blonde, tall war veterans favorably but that's not really relevant right now. Are you going to tell the truth or is your glorious singing career going to be over before it's even begun… don't even get me started on what I did to Rita Skeeter for spreading lies about my friends" she warned again, the petrifying look of controlled anger traveling to her eyes as they widened slightly.

Astoria looked sideways, taking in all the stares coming at her from a sort of semi-circle around them. For a second, she pondered lying as she considered her true chances of Draco actually giving her money just to shut her up but then money wasn't much use when you had your throat ripped out by Gryffindor's resident bookish hellcat.

Astoria looked back at Hermione and breathed out slowly, a tear slipping down her face in humiliation as she nodded once.

"Fine. FINE! OKAY! I lied. I'm infertile… it's impossible for me to have children at all. And I haven't slept with Draco in over a year" she said quietly, earning gasps from the growing audience they had around them.

"Hermione, McGonagall's on her way down" Harry's voice sounded from somewhere in the throng and immediately, Hermione let go of the Slytherin girl with a mockingly sweet smile.

"You see, it could've been much easier Greengrass. If I ever hear you spreading sick lies like that ever again, I'll make sure you end up in a jam jar like Skeeter, understand?" Hermione said, her voice getting a little lower as it took on a serious tone. Astoria glared up at her and that was enough understanding for Hermione.

Hermione turned, grabbed Malfoy's collar and pulled him away leaving people staring after her in awe at how much she really had changed.

"Must you always pull me away from situations like that? You'll give me friction burns on my neck Granger!" Malfoy remarked in amused irritation, rubbing his neck sheepishly as they made their way fast down another corridor, getting as far away from Astoria as quick as they could to avoid the headmistress' wrath.

"That was brilliant though. I must say Granger, you are sexy when you're angry" he grinned and she growled low in her throat.

"I just saved you about twenty thousand Galleons and years of public humiliation and you're making sexual comments at me?" she snarled and he chuckled.

"What're you going to put me in a jam jar like Skeeter are you?" he laughed out loud and she could not help but smirk slightly at this as she paused to catch her breath from running and looked at him.

"That depends, are you going to stop telling the fangirls to come to _me_ when they ask you about the size of your cock?" she replied and he burst into laughter. She grinned at him, all anger and intensity gone from her eyes as she watched him. It really was amazing when he smiled properly; all wide and cheeky with the same old Malfoy insolence.

"No, it's hilarious. One of them asked me last week if _you_ had any tattoos. I told them you have my face inked on your thigh" he said and she looked murderous and the glare she shot him, gave him his cue to start running very fast and to be ready to dodge several curses.


	8. Chapter 8

"So we want a Victorian theme then? Corsets and paper fans?" Harry asked to summarise his conversation with Hermione on the subject of the surprise ball they were holding in celebration of their headmistress' ninety fifth birthday.

"Yes. We have to do that hand dance thing when it's 'all about the intimacy of the near touch' it sounds intriguing and any excuse to laugh at Ron trying to dance with a teacher again" Hermione chuckled, a soft smile on her face. Harry smirked a little and shook his head at her, tsking slightly.

"Well do we have any teachers that know the steps?" Harry asked and an evil, scary smile broke out on Hermione's face.

"Oh yes, I'm sure Draco will be able to help us with something. He has a… relative that knows I'm sure" Harry frowned at her suspiciously as if he knew what she was thinking and was wondering whether it would be a wise idea to rattle such an easily angered man.

"It'll be fine Harry. He's my teacher, he's not allowed to hurt me" she assured and stood up from the common room they shared together as head boy and girl.

"So we tell her it's a dance to celebrate the anniversary of Hitler's downfall or something and she'll get all confused and just let us have it. Then when she turns up, we drop a huge banner with Victorian style writing on it saying happy birthday and bobs your uncle, Fanny's your fuck buddy!" Harry exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. Hermione smacked him on the arm for his crudeness and waved her wand, vanishing the papers they were working on so they would go straight into her trunk.

"I'll speak to Snape now"

* * *

><p>"But sir, it's for the headmistress' birthday!" Hermione said again and Snape growled at her, glaring straight into her eyes.<p>

"Oh for Salazars sake. FINE! You infuriating woman. I'll teach you and your little dunderheads how to dance" he said carefully and she smiled happily.

"Cheers Professor! Oh thank you Snape, you are a life saver" she said delightedly, repressing the urge to hug him which was something that was completely heard of in the entire history of magic.

"Yes Miss Granger now if you could leave me in peace that would be much appreciated" he snarled and immediately went back to marking his first year's papers; she almost smirked as he scribbled a big fat T on one of them without actually reading it through.

"If he wasn't my godson…" she heard him muttering as she exited the dungeon classroom and smiled to herself. Wow! War really had a huge impact on the world's evil. People just weren't willing to look passed the past.

* * *

><p>"Granger" a voice called from behind her as she walked up a stair case leading to Gryffindor tower. She stopped and turned, a smile automatically breaking out across her face. As soon as he reached her, she hugged him tightly, her arms flinging around his neck as she nearly knocked him over.<p>

He raised his eyebrows but hugged her back, chuckling against her neck making her shiver slightly.

"I'm guessing Snape's going to teach the dance classes then" Malfoy said as she let go of him, a grin still on her face.

"You're an angel when you aren't being a cocky sod" she said in relief, she was actually completely expecting Snape to refuse outright to even bother discussing the classes but Draco had managed to convince him to think about it and now he was going to actually do it.

"I think I should be an angel more often if this is the response I get" he smirked at her with amusement and her enthusiasm just registered with her as she started to blush a little. She rolled her eyes at him and let her arm fall around his waist as he flung his over her shoulder, his hand hanging softly and relaxed over her collar bone.

They walked back out onto the grounds, all intentions of going up to Gryffindor tower to read forgotten from her mind as they walked along the lake talking lightly about everything and anything. This was the kind of friend she'd been waiting for her whole life.

* * *

><p>"Lets not make this anymore embarrassing than it has to be. Now, if it's not too much of a stretch for your brains to handle, partner up" Snape's silky, deep voice rang out around the small room that had been allocated for the seventh year students to learn the dance Hermione had set for them. She had become very unpopular because of this with half the year moaning at her but she didn't care, this would look bloody brilliant when it all came together. Suspiciously, a local news reporter called Emily McAnderson had got wind of the event and somehow found it prudent to bug Hermione and Harry for a pass to get in so she could film it with a new range of magical videoing equipment. Apparently, Narcissa was using her husbands business ventures to her advantage and was producing muggle products for the wizarding world. Draco had confirmed his part in the new idea and Hermione had spent the last week trying to get him to let her work on it with him. He'd finally agreed to take her on when they had left school just for the six weeks that they were supposed to have had as holiday until she could get a job at the ministry and had reluctantly admitted that she would be very usefull with international events and would indeed become very popular with several 'big guys' supplying the materials for the project to go ahead.<p>

Hermione knew that it was thinking a little too far ahead but she was just terrified of having to leave the school and spend all day cooped up in a flat without anything to do until the ministry had gotten over their usually very long period of accepting new employees.

So now that was sorted, she felt much better and had gone into full Hermione mode with this ball they were planning and had suddenly decided that every single detail had to be perfect much to the disdain of Harry who was taking the role of co-organising the event much lighter and was simply having fun with the whole thing.

Hermione came back into focus as Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her out to where everyone was expected to practice and winked at her once before the music started and Snape began to move with one of the terrified looking Ravenclaw students.

To start off with, Snape's long, pale, elegant hand was faced up against the Ravenclaw's but was not touching it and they moved forward, twirling and swapping the sides they were standing on, keeping their hands still a hairs breath away.

"It is important with this type of dance to keep eye contact with your partner. As I was reminded by one of you this morning, it is all about the intimacy of the almost touch. As much as I hate to say this, flirt with your eyes. It is supposed to be intense as public displays of affection were much frowned upon during the Victorian era, this was normally the closest you would get to announcing that you were… attracted to someone. Repeat the action once with your right hand, then your left, then put up both. When you have finished this, the music will become somewhat slower and you will slip into a slow waltz still keeping your partner at a non-incriminating distance. It should still be just as intense as the first part of the dance" Snape finished as the music stopped and he immediately but not hastily let go of the young girl and stood back carefully, taking in his students who all looked a little embarrassed and slightly nervous.

"Right, again from the top and this time, I shall observe" his voice sounded again and he clicked his fingers, making the music begin yet again.

Malfoy smiled softly to Hermione and lifted his right hand. She mirrored him and as they moved, they did not once break eye contact. His eyes were softer than normal when he was looking at her and she could feel some kind of buzz between them, something that she had not really noticed before. This was the first time that she started to believe that Ron might actually be right… she might actually be the slightest bit attracted to Draco Malfoy. Just a little bit.

"Aanndd into the waltz" Snape nodded slowly as they broke into the proper dance.

Malfoy was leading as his left hand went on her waist and the other further up her back when hers went on his shoulder and on the side of his chest as they picked up the pace a little, Malfoy lifted her easily and twirled a little, placing her back down and throwing her backward in time with everyone else in the room.

Well, Snape was right about one thing, the dance certainly was intense.

* * *

><p>"Oh Hermione, that dress looks perfect on you! You look kind of respectable Victorian princess slash sexy, secret vampires! I love it!" Ginny squealed, taking in Hermione as she came out of the changing rooms in a dress shop they'd been browsing in for the ball.<p>

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I should never have introduced you to that television, I think I'll have to get Harry to throw away all of your Vampire diaries DVD's" Hermione chuckled and Ginny glared at her "You wouldn't dare" she growled, making Hermione laugh more.

"I bet Malfoy's going to look sexy as ever" Ginny sighed dreamily and Hermione tsked at her "Gin, you're with Harry" Hermione scolded. Ginny waggled her eyebrows suggestively "But you're not Hermione and you soo have the hots for Malfoy" she said with a knowing wink. Hermione gasped and pouted angrily at her redheaded friend "I do not! He's my best friend!" Hermione scolded again and Ginny sighed again as well "You wouldn't say that if you watched the both of you eye fucking each other every time you see each other" Ginny said as if it were a well known fact.

"Excuse me! I do not 'eye fuck' my best friend! That's disgusting" Hermione exclaimed, knowing she wasn't doing very well with the lying to herself thing.

"Hermione you can think what you like but even my dense, stupid prick of a cheating brother noticed that you practically act like you're a couple anyway" Ginny said. Hermione sighed and collapsed on the nearest chair, her dress puffing out at the sides slightly and she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I haven't had a friend like him before. I mean, I love Harry don't get me wrong and you're my best girl friend Gin but no one could ever really sit and have a conversation with me about something with true intellectual value. He gets me. We just kind of fit and I like this closeness thing at the moment. He's making me confident and happier than I've ever been really. I don't want to loose that Ginny, I don't think I could cope with loosing him now I know him like I do now"

"But you're just going to spend your whole life as his friend wondering what could have happened between you if you'd have been brave enough to try. You've both been through so much, don't you think you owe it to yourselves to see if you could be something?" Ginny said, wisely as ever, the constant look of knowing never leaving her eyes.

"Look Ginny, nothing is going to happen. Can we go back to the school now?" Hermione said dismissively and stood up, nodding at the shopkeeper to bag up her dress. As Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes and following Hermione out of the shop with a frustrated groan.

* * *

><p>Hermione walked down the stone steps towards the entrance hall, oblivious to several stares she was getting from both men and women as she obliviously walked through crowds of girls dressed in long, large Victorian style dresses of a range of different styles.<p>

Hermione had curled her hair with a charm Ginny had taught her that relaxed all frizz she might have struggled with normally and it now fell in soft, dark, shiny tendrils cascading softly and beautifully down her back and over her collar bone to stop just below where her breasts stopped. She had highlighted her eyes with a subtle layer of dark eye makeup and her lips were covered with a cherry colour balm that made them look full and shiny. Her dress was perfect for her. It was dark purple and was corseted; pulling her right in at the waist somewhat uncomfortably and pushing her cleavage up into a position she wouldn't normally have been comfortable with. Where the dress started at the top, little black teardrop shaped beads hung around in an authentic pattern, a covering of thin black lace had been stuck against the chiffon material of the corset part. The rest of it fell in a mix of purple and black material, not too wide but still very era appropriate so she looked very much like a young respectable Victorian witch with a lot of money and a family similar to Malfoy.

As she reached the main throng centred in the great hall, she spotted Malfoy talking to a few Ravenclaws fifth years that he knew from quidditch. She rolled her eyes when one of the girls let out an over exaggerated laugh, placing her hand on Malfoy's arm for support.

He looked completely at ease and happy with what he was doing to the passing eye but she could tell from the look in his icy depths that he was not enjoying yet more fangirls trying to get into his pants. He was better at handling them than Harry was though; Harry was kind of the passive aggressive type and was not at all comfortable with screaming groupies following his every move and… neither was Ginny for that matter who had been in trouble for getting pissed off very easily at the poor unsuspecting bimbos.

Hermione smirked fondly and walked gracefully up to him. He hadn't noticed her yet so she came up behind him and coughed to get his attention. The girls glowered at her and one even growled as he turned around to look at her.

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes basically popping as his gaze followed her body and then pulled back up to her face, a strange look in his eyes that he unsuccessfully masked with a smirk.

"You brush up well Granger" he commented, offering her a glass of wine. She took it with a smile of appreciation of how good he looked… NO! She wasn't supposed to be thinking that! She shook herself out of it and drew in a breath that said 'anywayy…'

He put his hand on her back and led her away from the venomous looks she was getting from his previous company. "So come on then, how long did you and the Weaslette take to get yourselves looking gorgeous?" he asked with a wink and she groaned "Ginny thought it would be necessary to spend two hours sorting out my hair… and that's before she got onto the make up" Hermione said with a grimace. He chuckled and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"You're in a good mood tonight… how much have you had to drink because there's no way you're pissed already" she asked, a frown creasing her forehead. He opened his mouth in mock offence and shook his head "I am not in a good mood, how dare you suggest such abnormality! And I'll have you know, I've only had one glass! Besides, I have a beautiful woman on my arm for tonight and I'm in a room full of people I can criticize, are you really surprised I'm not sulking around like I 'apparently' do on a regular basis". She blushed at his unintentional compliment and stared at the floor. He smiled but caught himself quickly as he was in serious danger of having a 'moment' and he most certainly wasn't comfortable with the way he was feeling about his best and almost only real friend right now with her stupid fucking curves and hair and gorgeousness… Sweet Salazar.

"Shit, I think the dance is starting"


	9. Chapter 9

Hey!

So sorry for the wait but my Dad went on holiday a few weeks back and I had a party, smashing up his house and almost getting him kicked out of his maisonette :S So I'm grounded and I didn't have my laptop for like a week, sorry yet again for my reckless drinking habits... I always seem to be apologising for that! well, I am sorry :L.

Anyway, building up to the pairing more now and I know people were calling for something to happen between them at the ball but I decided I wanted to get her completely over Ron first so I gave her some closure in this chapter. Pairing in the next one maybe?

Anyway, enjoy ;)

Dee xxx

* * *

><p>"Tell me are you feeling strong; strong enough to love someone and make it through the hardest storm, and bad weather"<p>

* * *

><p>"Who am I issuing detentions to tonight professor McGonagall?" Filch asked eagerly, looking around the room for the drunk students acting a little too merry. Minerva McGonagall looked at him sternly for a second and shook her head disapprovingly.<p>

"Mr Filch, the only students in this room who are over the limit are those who are over the age of seventeen. No one will be issued detentions thank you very much… Although, it might be wise to try and make sure our usual pair don't drink anything else, they have already tried jumping in the lake insisting that they wanted a three way dance with the giant squid. Just warn them, that will do Argus" McGonagall said, a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks from the three glasses of sherry she'd consumed with Snape reluctantly agreeing to sit at the table and be sociable for one night. He had simply sat there and grumbled for half an hour before sneakily grabbing a bottle of firewhiskey and stalking back off to his rooms in the dungeons.

Minerva would normally have been very angry at Hermione for supplying the school with an open table of alcohol but she had been assured that the liquor was charmed to blow up in students faces if they were underage so she had let them off this once.

Really, it had been a lovely night and as headmistress of the school, she had been delighted that everyone had come together for her with the occasional glitch of Hermione and Draco or as she liked to refer to them as – tweedle dum and tweedle dee (Muggle studies had been one of her specialities when she was at school) – being their usual drunk and disorderly selves. She did find it secretly funny that they could be so outrageously random when they were drunk; she was their teacher however and was required to try to keep them out of trouble whenever she could even if the staff had a little giggle about it in the staffroom later.

Another thing she'd noticed about the twosome when they were together was that Draco was a nice boy. She'd observed that he was still cocky and impossible to discipline completely but he now had more respect and she more frequently saw him laughing freely in Hermione's presence; teasing her, talking in general, moving together comfortably. Never had she seen Hermione so laid back and at ease in another's company, not even Potter and Weasley or Ginevra. She, like many others had also established that the two were extremely attracted to one another.

"Dracooooo" Hermione slurred, tripping over her heel and falling to the floor. She looked confused and pouted when she looked up to find him laughing at her. Putting one of his hands in his pockets with his usual suave fashion, he bent down and offered her his free hand. She still looked playfully grumpy and took it, falling into him and breaking into a new fit of giggles.

Ron sat there glaring at them, the five shots of firewhiskey he'd had clouding his judgement a little and enhancing his anger. Harry sighed, sober as Ginny was going to need looking after when she'd gone passed the stage commonly named as 'out of it' and would probably need carrying back to her dorm, something he did not want to do if he was pissed out of his head. Malfoy seemed to have a talent for carrying women when he was drunk though and always seemed to be the one stumbling into Gryffindor tower on Saturday morning with Hermione asleep in his arms.

"Malfoy I have to study tomorrow. I really don't want a hangover, do you have anything on you that could sober me up?" she slurred again dumbly. He frowned slightly "No… what's the matter? You never study on a Saturday" Malfoy asked her, straightening her up and holding her at arms length by the shoulders.

She giggled again but her face changed and tears filled her eyes "But you're going to see your mum tomorrow! That means I'm going to have nothing to do and then I'll end up sitting and thinking all day and I don't want to think so then I'll start drinking and I'll sleep with someone and then I'll end up in St Mungos again while they pump out my tummy" she said, her words coming out in a stumbling mess of drunken, confused tears.

Something was up with her; she never acted depressed when she was drunk. It wasn't normal for her to be a mess like this. He sighed and nodded, pulling out a small vial from his overcoat pocket and sat her down on one of the seats nearest to them. She was still crying but he knew not to mother her when she was hysterical.

His hand went around the back of her neck gently and he tipped her head back slightly, pouring the liquid down her throat. He gave her a second to swallow it and compose herself before she gulped and looked up at him.

He offered her a small smirk and took his coat off, wrapping it around her shoulders. He stood them up and led her towards the staff table to see McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall! Have you had a good night?" Hermione asked, her eyes drooping softly and she swayed a little, causing Malfoy to have to wrap his arm around her waist to steady her.

"Yes dear, thank you very much for helping to organise this for me… are you okay Hermione?" McGonagall asked, looking slightly concerned at how drunk she was. Malfoy looked a little irritated.

"I just brought her over to say goodnight. I'm taking her up to bed now" Malfoy said emotionlessly, his posture showing he was slightly impatient.

"Very well Mr Malfoy, I trust you will get her up to required tower safely" the teacher said in her thick Scottish accent and Malfoy nodded curtly and turned Hermione around to leave.

* * *

><p>"Malfoy I'm fine now. I can walk by myself" she said quietly, tiredness affecting her voice now the alcohol had worn off.<p>

"Why do I feel all weak?" she asked softly and he helped her to sit down on the sofa in her common room as she reached down stiffly to pull her dark purple heels off.

"The potion works inwardly. It uses all your bodies' natural chemicals to dissolve the alcohol in your system. It uses your energy to sober you up" he explained, jumping into the nearest armchair and relaxing in it. She almost smiled again with how much better he looked so early after the war. She stopped herself like before though and silently cursed Ginny for being decidedly accurate in her assumptions of the nature of her and Malfoy's relationship.

"Malfoy, have you ever been in love?" she asked randomly before she could really be aware that the question had escaped her lips.

"Love isn't something my upbringing encouraged Granger. It isn't in my nature to be in love… but I might have been close at one point" he informed carefully, paying close attention to every word he was saying in case he let out too much emotion; his love life before now was not a subject he really liked to talk about. But it was Hermione Granger, so he could make an exception.

"Who was she… or he?" she asked sarcastically and he scowled at her.

"_Her_ name was… Gemma" he spoke slowly, his eyes becoming less solid around the edges as his voice wavered just the tiniest bit. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Draco… was she a muggleborn?" Hermione asked, sitting forward slightly as her worn out body called against the movement, she ignored it and edged closer to the corner of the sofa.

"She was a muggle" Malfoy dropped the bombshell and Hermione gasped, her hand going over her mouth as if it would help ease the shock.

"That's why you didn't pick on me in sixth year" she whispered and he nodded quietly, staring at the ground as though it might burn up under his gaze and he would have something else to worry about, a distraction.

"My views were on their way to changing before that of course though. Sirius Black's death made the war real… not even purebloods would be spared despite betrayal. We were exactly the same as everyone else, my family more so as the Dark Lord saw the humanity left in us and hated us for it. Then I saw you again when we came back and I heard you constantly telling Potter to forget his obsession over what I was up to, I heard you saying that I wouldn't actually get that low. I wondered why you would defend me after everything I'd put you through over the years, it confused me. Then I went home for Christmas and Bellatrix was staying there which meant she brought home her catch every now and again which also meant Greyback hanging around for his next meal all the time. I was ordered to go and fix Gemma one day; Bellatrix grabbed her from a supermarket in Brighton because she was 'ignorant'. The process was that we would batter them and torture them before fixing them up so they felt safe and then hurting them again, messing with their sanity.

I went down to the basement and I saw her. She was just lying there staring up at the ceiling. When she noticed I was there she just sat up, didn't even wince and she said 'it's rude not to offer your guest food'. She grinned at me. She actually sat there and fucking grinned at me like nothing had ever happened to her. She let me sort her out and as I was about to leave, she said 'you're different to the them'. I couldn't think of anything to say to that. She was the first person apart from you who saw any good in me" he finished explaining and Hermione wondered how he could say it all without getting emotional.

"It's the eyes" she stated simply and he looked up at her with a frown.

"Is this one of your riddles Granger because I'm drunk and I can't be fucked to deal wit-"

"It's your eyes. They give you away. Your whole body is totally in sync with what you want your image to be; nonchalant and sarcastically carefree, completely emotionless. But your eyes, they give you away"

He had no idea how to respond to this, how was one to deal with someone telling you that after seven years of trying to keep up this mean, heartless image, no one had ever really believed it. Granger was breaking him down, stripping him of all his defenses. He could come to grips with the fact that he had a soft spot for her but he didn't like the fact that he could no longer hide anything from her, it worried him.

"I get it though, you're scared" she added and he scowled at her. She wasn't faced by the cold look he was giving her though and she carried on "you think it's easier to distance your true self because people dislike you. If people care about you, you can lose them, they can stop loving you if they want to. When people hate you, at least you don't have any pain; no one can let you down. Harry used to think like that you know, you're much more alike than you think… Draco? I think I'm ready to go to sleep now" she added on the end of her cynical speech with a tired sigh. He frowned at her but nodded.

He helped her up and clicked his fingers skilfully, undoing the charm that kept boys from climbing the girl's staircase. He wrapped his arm firmly around her waist and hers snaked around his neck tightly so she could put her weight on him. He didn't pick her up because her dress would have got in the way so he simply helped her to walk.

When they reached the top of the stone staircase, her eyes were drooping and her head was pounding from lack of any energy. He kicked the door open with his foot and found Lavender sat on her bed with tears running down her face. He ignored her though, he didn't like the girl; she was loud, shallow and annoying not to mention she was a total boyfriend stealing bitch.

Hermione grimaced at him and he smirked, helping her to unzip her dress and step out of it, trying to ignore the rather sexy purple lingerie she was wearing as she slipped herself carefully under the covers.

After a second, Hermione groaned and sat up impatiently, looking straight at Lavender.

"What's the matter?" she asked in a very irritated fashion. Malfoy almost smiled; she just could resist helping someone when they were upset, it was part of being Hermione effing compassionate Granger.

"Why do you give a shit?" Lavender slurred in a whiney voice. Hermione growled "I just do. What's the matter?" she asked again, rolling her eyes.

"If you must know, I got in a bit of a mess tonight. McLaggen was here a few minutes ago. He… Malfoy fuck off for a minute, I still have some kind of dignity" she snapped, looking sideways at him "Really? I thought you lost that when you shagged rusty" he shot back but Hermione put her hand on his arm to shut him up.

"She's going back down to the party in a second so just go and wait in the common room and I'll call you up when we're done" she said. He gave her a death glare but stood up and exited the room with his hands in his overcoat pockets.

"So then, what did McLaggen do then? Pull your tongue off with his awful kissing?" she asked, leaning her back against the headboard.

Lavender sighed softly, another tear dripping down her face. "He left me. Just like all the others, just like Ron. he fucked me and left me straight away. The bastard didn't even say anything he just walked out" the crying girl spat and ran her fingers through her hair pathetically.

"Lavender did you ever think that there is a reason for boys doing this to you? You're too easy to bed. Pull yourself together. Why don't you actually try being friends with someone before even thinking about letting them flop their dick out on you? You're beautiful Lavender and you could be someone that people respect… you just have to stop being so insecure and believe it" Hermione said the edge of bitterness to her voice but she was otherwise her normal comforting self.

Lavender looked up at her groggily and frowned, her perfectly shaped eyebrows knitting together as she surveyed the tired Gryffindor.

"I am sorry for what I did Hermione. If it's any consolation, he does love you. He's just a little useless in the relationship department" Lavender said deeply, wiping her face carefully and standing up to go to the bathroom and re-do her make up. She came back out after about three minutes and surprisingly, Hermione was still awake and seemed to be deep in a train of thought.

"Thank you" Lavender whispered timidly before grabbing her purse off the bottom of her bed and disappearing down the winding stone stairwell.

Seconds later, Draco came back into the room and sat himself down on the bottom of her bed, looking at her as she stared into space.

"That was probably hard for you Granger…"

"You wont leave me will you?" she asked with a whimper, her eyes glistening with tears as she moved her gaze over to him to look him straight in the eye.

"Weasley would have something to say if he came in tonight and found me sat here watching you slee-"

"No, I mean in general. You wont leave me in pain will you?" she asked, a simple tear dripping fast down her face and hitting the soft dark curls cascading over her collarbone.

His heart gave a dangerous thud and then throbbed and swelled with emotion as she silently cried. He drew in a sharp breath.

"Granger, I'll stay for as long as you need me to" he spoke quietly and she smiled softly, grabbing his arm and pulling him down to lie on the bed with her. She turned into him and snuggled into his warmth. His arms automatically went around her and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. After few seconds, her breathing slowed and she he knew she was sleeping.

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><p>"Malfoy's here!" a small giggle came from one of the beds the next morning and he heard the slashing of curtains as the girls observed the scene.<p>

"He's got all his clothes on though… aww! What a gentleman!" Patil cooed and he stirred, alerting the annoying females that he was awake. Immediately, they all jumped from their beds and busied themselves in the bathroom as he pretended to let his eye flicker open and he feined waking up.

"Granger, wake the fuck up!" he nudged her, slipping out of their embrace and standing up from the bed. She groaned and winced her eyes at him, a tiny playful scowl coming up on her lips.

"I don't have to get up yet!" she said and he glared at her "It's Saturday remember, you're studying" he shot and she sat up immediately. He laughed at her and pulled his coat off, flinging it over his shoulders, rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbows and loosening the Victorian style sash thing around his neck.

She smirked in appreciation of the morning Malfoy and pulled up from under her covers, pulling Harry's old Quidditch jersey over her head. Malfoy mock urged at the Gryffindor colours and she smacked his chest.

"I'll be back about lunchtime so be done by then because I've decided we're going up the mountain this afternoon" he said and Hermione raised her eyebrows "Oh _you've_ decided have you?" she said. He smirked at her and simply planted a mocking kiss on her cheek before swooping out of the room.

She stared after him for a few seconds before pulling her hair up into a long ponytail and starting towards the bathroom to get ready.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey!

So yes, I am aware that we are a little out of character for this one but it had to be done for the sake of the story... and the lurrrv ;)

But please don't burn me for it, these people will be out OOC, they have just come out of a war and lost their parents and brothers. This is my story and I am writing the characters how I think they should be portrayed... please don't hate me though :)

But as I'm grounded and I no longer have writers block and I'm in a good mood because I managed to get into Pottermore this morning, there will be a lot of updates this week so... YAY!

Thanks for the reviews as always and I think I'm seeing some familiar pennames, some of you came back to me from my old account? I'm not sure, but thanks anyway and let me know what you think!

Dee xxxx

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><p>Loving someone isn't the same as wanting them. Sometimes you have no choice in the matter, you don't want them because they fuck with your head and you need them because they are your drug. After war, people say that you learn to enjoy the finer things in life. The more romantic, sensual things become more apparent. Things like sunsets and mountains become the most beautiful things in the world and waves crashing, bees buzzing all make you feel like you're lucky to be alive. Malfoy thought this was complete and utter bollocks.<p>

Waves crashing were kind of cool but the way they did it was violent and unstoppable; he'd had enough of that to last him a lifetime. Sunsets were okay and he enjoyed sitting at the top of the hills on the Hogwarts grounds, watching the golden globe disappear behind the trees but it was bright and blinding and could give him headaches when it wasn't for romantic purposes. Bees buzzing were just fucking annoying and he had taken to zapping them with his wand when they were pissing him off as summer approached the school. But things like this were insignificant; he could see these anytime he wanted to. No, it was who he shared them with, the conversations that grew from these musings, the laughs that blossomed and the friendships he had.

He still had his personality and he was okay with that and now he had people who truly gave a shit about his well being unlike his dead bastard of a father or his previous supposed 'master'.

Hermione was sat outside, her back against the trunk of a tree as she read 'Vince and Joy' for the hundredth time. Ginny was lied out on the sand with her top off as her skin soaked up the sun marking the first pleasant remnants of summer as time crept its way into late July. Draco and Harry were stood topless in their jeans on top of the hill poking the giant squid's tenticals with twigs as they dried off from the swim they'd just had.

Hermione would glance up every now and again to watch Malfoy in all his glory. His hair damp and messy atop his head, his pale skin slightly flushed from the heat of the day. His jeans hung loose on his hips in an incredibly carefree teenage boy fashion. His chest was well defined from years of quidditch and the training his father had put him through to train for the war and the lines marking the sculpted muscle across his shoulders joined into a lean body shape that was beautifully pale in the sunlight. His eyes sparkled with rare mirth and his mouth curved into an amused smirk as Harry chuckled quietly. She imagined this was what James Potter looked like when he was a young child; the big grin, the elated posture, the cheeky glint in his eyes as he did something that probably wasn't rule appropriate. She couldn't help but grin to herself; Harry was everything he should have been as a teenage boy and more. She was so very proud of him for getting to this point.

Ginny watched her as she observed Malfoy over the top of her book, squinting in the light of the sun and she smirked.

"You're never going to admit it are you?" Ginny asked, a hint of amused exasperation in her childlike, youthful voice that had always made the people around her smile.

"Ginevra Weasley, I really have no idea what you are talking about" Hermione grinned devilishly, taking a swig of her WKD resting next to her on the sand and going back to watching Malfoy, dragging her teeth across her bottom lip in appreciation of the scene before her.

"I love him" Ginny said like it was normal conversation and Hermione chuckled "And he loves you".

Both girls were now watching Harry, proud, admiring smiles on their faces as Malfoy sneakily nudged him and he fell of the rock into the lake. Hermione and Ginny burst out into laughter and Malfoy did a tiny victory dance before loosing his footing and falling in himself making the girls laugh even harder.

He pulled up to the surface and glared playfully at Hermione, pouting grumpily. She grinned back and lifted her top over her head, kicking off her sandals and adjusting her posture against the tree so that she was more comfortable. Before she could pick the book back up however, Malfoy had swum to the edge, bounded up the sand bank and grabbed her round the middle. He hoisted her over his shoulder. She was kicking and cursing at him very loudly while Ginny chuckled at his antics.

He threw Hermione into the water when they were in deep enough and she groaned underwater as the cool liquid seeped through her denim mini shorts and her hair swamped around her in soaking wet curls sticking to her head. She surfaced with a loud gasp and looked around for her attacker fully prepared to hex him into tomorrow when she got her wand back but she felt something grab at her ankles and up her body before a blonde head of hair burst up from the depths in front of her and he grinned widely showing a full set of straight, white teeth.

"You dick!" she yelled, smacking his bare chest as he crushed her to his floating body, his arms going tightly around her waist to hold them both up in the water.

"Not going to deny it, you've always known this about me" he winked and she scowled at him. She lost her train of thought though when his eyes met hers and he tucked a stray curl behind her ear, the smile not leaving his face as she realized the close proximity of their position.

"Don't look now but your 'brother' has just got his girl lying across the beach ready to shag like bunnies" he chuckled darkly, glancing over her shoulder at the kissing couple rolling about in the sand giggling and laughing.

"You're so crude Draco" she scolded and he winked again "I aim to please" she blushed at that and pushed away from his grip, swimming backward but in a different direction to the sand bank. He followed her and pulled her outstretched legs towards him, pulling them around his waist as she gasped at the contact and blushed furiously.

"Stop being such a flirt" she growled but her hands snaked comfortably around his neck and they floated backwards for a little while in their embrace, enjoying the heat of the sun and the spectacular views that was Hogwarts.

"Hermione?" he asked and her gaze snapped up to his eyes immediately; he hardly ever used her first name.

"That's not a good 'Hermione'. What is it?" she asked in a worried tone and he shook his head "Nothing bad. Just wondered when you were going to get on with it and kiss me" he said with a smirk and her eyes grew wide for a second her heart beat quickening.

"I was getting round to it" she said impatiently and she grabbed the back of his head, connecting their lips in a lock of heated chaste passion before breaking away quick and tightening her hold around him. He growled low in his throat and pulled her back in for a more heated kiss. It was brilliant.

Hermione never believed in the whole 'world around them blurred and seized to exist' shit from the romance novels but this was something else. She expected his lips to be cool but they were very, very warm and bloody sinfully skilled. As beads of water dripped down their faces and they kissed softly in the clear, dark water. She never wanted to be anywhere else. His tongue ran tantalisingly over her bottom lip and she responded enthusiastically.

She was in the lake, with Draco Malfoy, her legs wrapped tightly around his strong hips, kissing him… when the bloody fuck did that happen?

She put both hands on his chest and shoved him back slightly. He pulled away from her and smirked, lust covering his gaze as he looked her straight in the eyes.

"You did that on purpose! We weren't even supposed to be coming down here today! You're my best frien-"

He cut her off, connecting their lips again and her heart thudded erratically beneath her chest. She had never felt anything like this with Ron… it was probably why she'd never actually had sex with him. They just hadn't been passionate.

This though… this thing that she and Draco were doing was completely intensified. It wasn't right; it was just unnatural for two people who had grown up hating each other to be so fiery and… wanton when… KISSING? Shit, she was still kissing him. She pulled away from him again and glared at him.

"Stop cheating and listen to me! Draco this isn't right! We're best mates… best mates don't snog each other senseless in ridiculously romantic Scottish lakes!" she said exasperatedly and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Fine. Tell me what is wrong about this then?" he gently leaned their foreheads together for a second before leaning in slowly and brushing their lips together in a soft, sweet kiss. This time it was gentle and loving and her heart fluttered desperately in her chest as their bodies moulded together and he pulled her into a tight hug, his lips lingering at her neck as they closed their eyes and lost themselves in the warm embrace, the sun shining down on Hermione's skin.

A tear fell down her face as her body tingled with emotion.

"What's wrong about this?" he whispered into the crook of her neck and her eyes fluttered open.

"We hated each other" she whimpered, her brain pulling up stupid excuses now as she clung to him still tighter, his warmth even in a lake full of water unbelievably addictive and she could feel the cold of their surroundings beginning to tickle at her legs.

"We don't anymore" he crushed that one down simply.

"We'll end up killing each other" she said and he chuckled, his chest moving against her as he placed a kiss on her earlobe.

"Isn't that what a relationship is? An early death sentence?" he laughed and she sighed against his shoulder as she leant her face against his wet hair, breathing in his natural sent.

"That's not how it works" she said and he nodded matter of factly, breaking their hug reluctantly and holding her face between his hands. They could stand now and at some point, they had floated back into shallow waters. He smiled warmly at her which scared her a little as it was most out of character for him to be showing a weakness so openly.

"I don't care"


	11. Chapter 11

Duuuddeeesss!

So high level T rating in this chapter, never actually written a scene like this but I wont go up to M because that would be rather embarrassing for us all really considering I'm only fifteen years old...

Anyway, hopefully there will be the official pairing after this but it's Malfoy and Hermione and it's always more complicated than that.

Hope you like, please tell me if I'm falling off plot slightly. No worries though, I'm dragging it back up soon and we're going to involve some more people. I think I might give Snape a bit of a storyline but I'm not sure yet.

Tell me what you think as always and be honest... just don't scream at me or anything, I'm not very good with flames.

Dee xxx

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><p>"Your touch is so magic to me, the strangest things can happen. The way that you react to me, I wanna do something you can't imagine" ~ Ciara and Justin Timberlake...<p>

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><p>Ronald Weasley felt anger burn up inside him as he watched Hermione grinning across the hall at Malfoy; the stupid git. Ron knew he had hurt Hermione and what he had done with Lavender was unforgivable but Malfoy was evil, he would chew her up and spit her straight back out… wouldn't he?<p>

Yes, the evil dick had his Hermione. Sweet, impressionable, beautiful, clever, quiet Hermione was no longer the little girl he'd once fallen in love with. She was now daring and gobby and naughty… of course, it was sexy as hell but he missed the girl he'd dated just months previous, the girl who loved him back. The girl who'd never looked at him like she was looking at Malfoy now; lust.

"Ronnie!" Lavender squealed as she sat down beside him and went to pull him in for a slightly elicit kiss but he pushed her away, his anger even more apparent as she looked confused.

"Lav, don't sleep with people and then think that it won't get around… McLaggen, really?" he growled and she did a double take, tears welling up in her large hazel eyes. He didn't feel guilty; the girl was dumb enough to think that Hermione wouldn't tell him the girl had cheated on him.

He was pissed off with her but he was starting to see exactly what he'd done to Hermione, he didn't love Lavender but at least he'd cared about her and she'd betrayed him.

"But…" she whimpered and he held up his hand before going back to his food.

"Ron, is everything okay?" Hermione asked slightly awkwardly, the natural concern in her voice showing through the bitter look in her eyes whenever she looked at him now.

"Everything's fine Hermione" he said bluntly and gave up on his food, dropping his fork and pulling away from the table. He turned away, snatching his sleeve out of Lavender's grip as she tried to grab him and stormed out of the hall. He did not notice Hermione's frown following him all the way to the double doors.

"Harry, I'll be back in a second" she informed distractedly, not taking her eyes off the spot Ron had disappeared from. He nodded at her.

"OI! Ronald!" she shouted, pushing a few people aside as she ran down the corridor after her old friend. When she caught up with him, she grabbed his arm to make him turn around but he shrugged out of her grip and turned to face her, a strong look on his face, masking his true emotions.

"What Hermione?" he snapped and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know what that feels like" she said simply and his eyes darkened slightly, the lines at the corner of them softened.

"Yes, Hermione, I know and you seem to be getting over it pretty quickly. Anyway, I don't give a shit, I should've seen it coming anyway" he said. She sighed and dropped his arm.

"Who'd have thought we'd be here?" she said and he nodded in agreement, leaning back against the wall and putting his hands in his pockets nonchalantly, his shoulders hunched in a tired sort of way.

"Are you happy?" he asked and she gave him a searching look for a second before smiling warmly and nodding.

"I miss you though" she replied sadly he scoffed "You miss arguing with me twenty four seven?" he said sarcastically and she laughed slightly.

"Hey… we were good though weren't we?" she smirked and he gave her one of those secret smiles again, the old glint in his eyes that used to make her heart thud returning.

"Yeah we were. Listen… thanks for telling me about Lavender" he said a little awkwardly and she grinned, this was the boy she missed and loved.

"It doesn't matter what happens Ron, I'm always loyal to my friends" she spoke firmly and he creased up his forehead "I was under the impression that you wanted me to burn in hell" he said and she chuckled "Oh trust me, I've always wanted that. But I guess old habits die hard… you need a friend right now I'm guessing" she said and he sighed deeply, running his fingers through his hair and looking at her with a one sided smile.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Hermione, what's with you and the ferret?" he asked carefully, a possessive look coming over him.

She glared at him "Insulting my mutual acquaintances it not the way to gain my trust" she said. He threw his head back in bitter laughter "Mutual acquaintance? Is that Hermione language for 'fuck buddy'?" she smacked him clean across the face.

"Just when I thought you were worth saving, you go and ruin it all. I wasn't fucking Malfoy for your information, I wasn't even going to pursue a relationship with him… but you just made my decision. Have a nice life Ron, don't let all your pathetic mistakes hit you on the balls on the way out" she said and turned on her heel to run back to the main hall to get Malfoy; she was in need of a strong glass of Firewhiskey.

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><p>"You going to talk to me about this or are you going to sit there drowning your sorrows and ignoring me forever?" Malfoy asked, flicking his legs up on the table and taking a bite of an apple, placing his small shot glass down on the wooden surface of the room of requirement.<p>

"Not now Malfoy" she said, downing her glass and pouring herself another. He was at her side in a flash however and wrapped his hand around the glass before she could lift it to her lips and took it from her hand.

"Why are you so pissed off all of a sudden?" he asked bluntly and bent down in front of her so he was looking directly at her.

"I'm not" she snapped and he raised his eyebrows "If you're going to be a bitch Granger, I wont bother" he said, going to stand up but her long fingers caught his wrist and he looked at her, their faces just centimeters apart.

"Ron insulted you, I slapped him" she said, her voice catching in her throat slightly. He sighed and lent their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

"Heroics will get you into trouble one day Granger" he whispered, his breath fanning unevenly across her skin. She shivered and reached up to grab the collar of his black muggle polo shirt to pull him closer.

"You're upset" he stated and she grinned "I know" he groaned in frustration… an inappropriate kind of frustration.

"You're drunk" he choked and she scoffed "I've had three shots, I'm hardly drunk" she said. He drew in a sharp breath "You stopped this last time" he said again and she growled "shut the fuck up and kiss me already". That was it, he snapped.

He pulled her up out of her chair and yanked her straight in for a searing, relentless, passionate kiss as pleasure ran through his body. He pressed her up against the table so she was forced to hop up onto it. She pulled him between her legs and continued their ministrations, moaning softly as his tongue entered her mouth forcefully and wrapped itself around her own. Her legs snaked around his hips, her ankles and feet wrapping around his muscular thighs. His hands were on her hips, traveling up the curves of her waist and tangling in her wavy hair.

Her thumbs hooked onto the back of his belt as their hips clamped tightly together. She could feel his erection pressing against the denim of her mini skirt and she groaned into his mouth, grinding against him and smirking as her growled deep in his throat, pulling her impossibly closer so that not even air could get between them.

His head bowed and he feathered kisses across the line of her soft jaw and down her neck, nipping at her pulse point and making her arch involuntarily into him.

"We should stop" he gasped and she nodded blindly but he carried on biting, sucking and kissing at her skin drawing sounds from her that she didn't even know she was capable of making. Reason was lost as she heaved his top over his head, tossing it to the side, completely forgotten.

Stopping was no longer an option.


	12. Chapter 12

HI!

So what are they going to do when they wake up together? And how will darling Ronald react to this new 'thing' between Mione and Draco? If you read, you'll find out but don't forget to drop me a review my little lovelies! You've been great so far. This is the most reviews I've ever had so early on in a story! Thank you dudes!

When this stories over I might attempt a Hermione/George one but I'm not sure yet.

Anyways, enjoy ;)

Dee xxx

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><p>"You said hey, what's your name? It took one look and now I'm not the same. Yeah you said hey, since that day, you stole my heart and you're the one to blame. Yeah that's why I smile, it's been a while since everyday and everything felt this right" Avril Lavigne ~ Smile<p>

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><p>The first thing she was aware of was the incredible feeling of sated satisfaction and dull ache between her thighs setting her bones on fire. The skin around her neck was sore and she could feel several bits of raised tissue where she was sure there would be love bites. Her body felt totally exhausted and yet every bone in her slender frame screamed pure and utter bliss. Liquid joy and pleasure ran through her veins along with the fast pumping of boiling hot blood in the aftermath of what had been the best night of her entire life. The essence of firewhiskey lingered in her stomach and mouth along with the distance taste of Malfoy's cigarettes and the natural sweet tang that always occupied his mouth.<p>

Her toes were still curled over and she flexed them, trying to keep them from clamping up and she could briefly note that licks of sweat were still present on her burning up skin. Her hair was a complete and utter mess; she could feel the messy waves against the cushiony, cramped surface she was lying on. There was no blanket over her and she noticed that her denim mini was the only piece of clothing clinging uncomfortably to her body. She felt as though she was still coming down from the high and she could feel his arm flung loosely over her bare waist, his unbuttoned jeans still just clinging onto his hip bones and a bare, hard planed chest was pressed up against her back, his slow, steady breathing tickling her ear and making her shiver. She was slightly cold and, despite how amazing her whole form felt, she was in an awkward position and needed to sit up although she would have happily have laid in his arms forever.

She clicked her fingers and her bra and dance top appeared on her body, covering her previously bare chest and every joint yelled inwardly in protest as she struggled to pull herself up.

For a few minutes she sat in silence, his soft breathing vibrating through his chest and she calmed herself. Malfoy's cigarette was stubbed out in the ash tray and a bitten into apple lay uneaten on the fine oak next to it. His top was strewn across the floor under the table and the room was a complete mess as though they'd been at it for hours.

She did not know what she could say to him about this but she was sure the conversation would be awkward. Then again, maybe not as Malfoy was extremely confident and had initiated the kiss in the lake a couple of days back and had tried to hush her misgivings. She liked him… more than liked him for that matter and they worked together. Sure, they'd tear chunks out of each other in arguments and there was the issue of the infamous pureblooded, bigoted family that Draco came from… Hermione wasn't sure exactly how much Narcissa had changed.

She took a deep breath in and out to ready herself and elbowed him in the stomach to wake him up.

He groaned and rolled onto his back, letting his eyes flutter open dryly.

"Shit" he cursed, sitting up in a flash, immediately regretting it as blood shot to his head and his brain shouted at him to lie back down and rest more.

"I know right" she said in a bored tone, standing up to pace the room. "Keep doing that for the next five minutes and you might be where I am now".

"Granger, did this actually happen?" he asked, rubbing his head as he sat up and zipped up his flies. She breathed deeply and paused, turning to stare straight at him.

"Yes it did Malfoy and no, before you ask, I wasn't drunk so no, you did not take advantage of me" she said and carried on her pacing as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

"Stop fucking pacing Granger!" he snapped, bending his neck and holding his head in his hands.

"We fucked didn't we?" she asked and he rolled his eyes "State the obvious… what do you remember?" he asked and she blushed red.

"Everything" she answered and he nodded curtly.

"Where the hell are we supposed to go from here?" she asked, and he looked up at her, a deep depth to his icy blue eyes.

"Bit blunt this morning aren't we?"

She sighed and smiled at him as calmly as she could.

"Well I want this sorted out, I won't do this for the next seven years like I did with Ron. Look, it was epic. I like you, you're my best mate and we have great sex it's as simple as that" she said and he smirked for the first time that morning and she felt relief wash through her; things weren't going to be awkward.

"I told you didn't I? There's nothing wrong with us being in a relationship!" he said and then coughed to clear his throat; stupid bloody cigarettes filling his lungs with tar, he was signing his own death sentence.

"You want us to be together officially?" she asked, one eyebrow raised and he rubbed the back of his neck, massaging the muscle to wake it up before he grinned at her cheekily.

"We'd cause a stir wouldn't we?" he chuckled and she smirked smugly "Oh yes we bloody well would, Witch Weekly will have our heads! So we're like a couple now then?" she asked again and he rolled his eyes before standing up and walking over to her taking her round the waist and placing a small affectionate kiss on the tip of her nose, his thumb ghosting softly over her cheekbone. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second and she let her arms go around him, hugging him tightly.

"You're like a little school girl with relationships aren't you Granger?"

"Somehow I can't imagine a little school girl doing_ that_ all night, can you?

"Hmm… I suppose not" he murmured and placed small kisses up and down her neck before nipping at her earlobe gently.

"You're such a dick" she sighed and he scowled against the skin of her neck.

"Why?"

"Because you make me crazy!" she groaned as his hands scraped agonisingly slowly up the small of her back to stroke along the strap of her bra.

"You'll be the death of me Draco Malfoy!"

"Bittersweet love"

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><p>"Hermione are you actually kidding me? You spent weeks denying that there was any sexual tension between you two and then weeks later you spend the night fucking like bunnies!" Ginny ranted an amused look on her face as she watched Draco slide his arm around Hermione's hip to pull her closer to him. Hermione laughed and took a swig of her pumpkin juice.<p>

"Well you know what I'm like Ginny" she grinned. He kissed the corner of her mouth and whispered something in her ear making her giggle as she held her hand up to her mouth to stifle it. Unluckily, Ron chose this moment to appear at the breakfast table.

"What the fuck Hermione?" Ron asked. Her stomach suddenly felt as though someone had filled it with ice cold water as it gave an uncomfortable lurch. She grimaced, looking up to find him glaring at her opposite her. His eyes were absolutely furious and his hands had balled into fists, his freckled knuckles going bright white with rage. Draco, sensing the situation, dropped his arm and squeezed her knee under the table in a quiet attempt to soothe her nerves.

"Ronald must you always use such crude language?" she sighed as if nothing was wrong with Malfoy stealing food from her breakfast plate or having his hand a little too far up her thigh to be called innocent. Ron gave her a death glare worthy of Voldemort and simply shook his head at her in disgust, revulsion distorting his every feature as though he was watching Bellatrix torture her all over again.

"He's a deatheater Hermione! You know this!" Ron exclaimed and she hissed at him, making the whole table tune into their argument with hushed whispers and gossipy gasps.

"There are no deatheaters left Ron, we killed them all remember. There aren't even any left in Azkaban and Draco most certainly is not one of them!" she shot back, standing up and stepping away from her seat so she was level with him even if he was several inches taller than her.

"He has the mark doesn't he?" Ron shouted, alerting the teachers to the situation. Harry went to stand from his seat but Ginny grabbed his leg, pulling him back down; this was between Ron and Hermione and it had to end now.

"So what if he has the mark? We all have scars, what makes him any different to the rest of us?" she asked and Malfoy cleared his throat "I'm sat right here you know" he said loudly and Ron growled at him territorially. "Shut it you, this is your fault!" he yelled, his deep voice echoing around the hall's strong walls. Everyone was looking at them now and Hermione could have sworn she saw Lavender scribbling a note and sending it off with her owl; most probably to a tabloid magazine.

Malfoy want to open his mouth to retort with a derogatory comment with all the temper of his old self but Hermione stepped on his foot to get him to shut up.

"Mr Weasley two weeks detention for your public display of unruly behavior. If you do not leave this hall right this moment I will escort you out myself" Snape seemed to have magically appeared behind Draco next to Hermione, his most intimidating stare hitting Ron in sharp stabs several of the Gryffindors watching the fight nearby abruptly turned and pretended as though they weren't listening but continued to eavesdrop on their classmate's heated discussion.

Ron narrowed his eyes "I'm not af-" Harry had intervened and had abruptly put his hand around Ron's mouth to stop him from making things worse for himself. "Shut up Ron" Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy five points from each of your houses for your input in the matter, regardless of how small and yes Draco, I take points from my godson".

Snape did not realize but from the heads table, McGonagall was smiling inwardly; the man had improved his unfair disciplinary practices since the war had ended. He was a much better teacher now than he had ever been in his entire life. A much better person even if he was the most unpleasant man she had ever met.

"Breakfast is over now anyway and I believe Slytherin and Gryffindor have potions next. Mr Weasley, you had best not be late, I would simply hate to have to take more points from you for your inevitable, insufferable lack of time keeping" he announced in a sarcastic drawl that Hermione could not help but smirk at. Malfoy chuckled and took her hand to lead her away after Snape.

Harry and Ginny got up to follow them and Ron looked furious "Where the bloody hell do you think you're going? I haven't eaten anything yet!" he said and Ginny gave him a look so like Molly Weasley's glare that he visibly coward away from his sister. "Why don't you see if Lavender can take care of your breakfast for you brother dear, I'm sure she'll be more than willing to accommodate your needs; even at this time in the morning" Ginny said, disapproval of his attitude coating every syllable. Harry made to give him an apologetic look but Ginny was pulling him away before he could even take a breath.

* * *

><p>"This year, as I have said in previous lessons, will be of utter most importance to the finalisation of your magical education. I am still expecting you to work no less than your best at every task I set you. Now, can anybody enlighten us as to what the term or object of vervain entitles?" he asked, twirling his wand in his hand as he watched the faces of every single student in his classroom. Some shivered at the chill of the dungeons, other shivered at his creepy, slightly threatening demeanour as he surveyed them.<p>

"Ah Miss Granger, why am I not surprised. Very well then, I'm sure you can give us a satisfactory answer learned word for word from a text book" he said in his usual silky hiss of a voice. His thick tone normally frightened students and sometimes even teachers but Hermione knew more about the man now and simply found him fascinating; him and his strangely beautiful voice.

"Vervain is a herb and translates into the holy/ sorcerers plant. It is designed to weaken vampires and is known to burn their skin along with exposure to UV rays. When worn or ingested by humans, vervain has also been known to protect Humans against being compelled by them: furthermore it prevents the human from being mentally controlled by said vampire. It is also recorded that vampires can build up

a-"

"Tolerance if they ingest it in small amounts on a regular basis… As usual Miss Granger, your answer was not unheard of but otherwise correct. Two Points to Gryffindor and I'll take them back if I see so much as a hint of smugness on your know-it-all face" he finished for her and Malfoy smirked crookedly at his professor as he watched Hermione go red and scowl from his ungrateful manner.

"Granger he's never given you points before just be glad he didn't kill you months back when he had the chance" Draco silenced the rant that was about to slip from her lips and she glared at him before turning back to the class and watching Snape draw up a complicated formula on the board whilst he explained that they were to make a potion containing vervain that would render the herb tasteless and so would go unrecognised by the vampire ingesting it before the affects started to kick in.

"But sir isn't this more defence against the dark arts?" Pavarti asked confidently, her voice slightly shaky. Severus turned to face her and looked at her for a few seconds before a tiny smile broke out on his face making the whole classroom gasp loudly. He ignored their reaction and let his eyes travel the room once before they landed back on Pavarti's.

"So it would seem Miss Patil but you will find in later life that potions and Dark arts are both extremely closely linked. I just hope that you do not have to find that out the ways that I have. Three points from everyone for an improper, irritating reaction to an everyday happening" he snapped and they all groaned.

"Five points to Gryffindor for a smart question Patil" he murmured bitterly.

* * *

><p><em>BOOKS AND LOOKS!<em>

_Newly transformed muggleborn, war hero bookworm Hermione Jean Granger has indeed been confirmed to be dating pureblooded bachelor bad boy Draco Abraxas Malfoy! _

_Prior to her messy break up with long time love interest Ronald Billius Weasley, Miss Granger has been rumoured by many to have been spending 'every waking moment' with the young, dashing blonde ex-deatheater. _

"_Oh yes, they say they're just best friends. They go out places together all the time and they're always getting into trouble with McGonagall because they drink a lot but everyone knows they've been wanting to get acquainted in the bedroom for weeks!" one of their fellow students whom does not wish to be identified reports. _

_In actual fact, it has also been brought to our attention that the very person informing us of this information was the girl that originally had a one night stand with Ronald Weasley, affectively putting an end to the Granger/ Weasley phenomenon. _

_When asked to comment the other day, Ginny Weasley who takes Hermione's side in all this, stresses that it is early days and the two are just enjoying each other's company (We're sure you are dear, we'd enjoy Malfoy's muscles too!). Further sources claim that Malfoy and Granger can barely take their hands off each other, much to the disdain of Ronald… keep it in your trousers then lovie! _

_Weasley is said to be causing quite a commotion on the subject as he confronted Granger during breakfast recently, remarking "He's a deatheater Hermione! You know this!" and has also reduced Granger into slapping him when insulting Malfoy, referring to him continuously as the deatheater he once was and his unexplained childhood nickname of 'Ferret boy'. We don't see how this name is relevant, Draco Malfoy is quite the opposite to resembling a ferret and had even been said to have a bigger fan base than heartthrobs Sirius Black, the diseased Remus Lupin, and boy wonder, world saver Harry James Potter. _

_To be honest, we think that it is not surprising the childhood enemies of dating; seven years of utmost, loathing and hate has to build up a lot of passion between two of the fieriest individuals of this generation. It's no wonder they managed to find understanding and lurrrvvvv from the depths of their lost childhood. _

_We wish them luck with their relationship and hope that sexy son of Lucius Malfoy, Draco, treats Hermione with more respect than love cheat Ronald Weasley._

Hermione threw her head back in laughter at the article Pavarti had passed her down the Gryffindor table on the last day term.

"This is priceless! They totally ripped him to shreds!" she remarked with a chuckle and Malfoy wore a very smug smirk on his matured face as he locked gaze with Ginny across the table, she was frowning slightly "I never commented on anything! They made that up!" she scolded, pouting grumpily at the glossy magazine.

Lavender was sat near the end of the table by herself, her head hung on the table, back shaking as she cried into her porridge.

"Serves the selfish, dumb slut right doesn't it? She can sleep with who she likes but you'd think even she'd have more sense not to sleep with the most famous woman in the world's boyfriend and publicly humiliate herself by then cheating on him! HA!" Draco barked. Harry rolled his eyes and did a quick scan of the table for Ron. He was sat with Dean and Seamus about ten seats up from them and was looking like he wanted to crawl into the ground and stay there for a few years.

"Man Slut!" someone called loudly from the Ravenclaw table and Ron's head snapped up angrily, he looked like he was ready to murder anyone in sight.

"No point Ron" Dean muttered as Ron began to stand up to retaliate. He stopped however when he felt all the teachers eyes on him and lowered himself back into his heat, his ears burning brighter than his hair.

* * *

><p>"Hermione! You didn't tell us you were fucking the devil child!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, slapping Hermione on the back in approval as she frowned.<p>

"Devil Child?" she asked with raised eyebrows and Sirius laughed "yeah, Hermione's finally becoming the little sex witch we never thought she would! You've forever been saved from the grips of everlasting virginity!" he called dramatically and Ron scowled from the bottom of the table at Grimmauld place.

Shortly after Bellatrix's death while the fighting was still going on, an explosion had occurred in the department of mysteries and Sirius along with about twenty other witches and wizards had been found unconscious scattered around the veil completely unharmed but very skinny and tired. Harry had basically hit the heavens at the news of his godfather's return to the living whereas Snape had been very, very angry and had ended up destroying most of the inside contents of his house in Spinners end. Sirius had found this hilarious; Hermione had smacked him over the head and tutted at him for hours afterward.

"What makes you think I was a virgin?" she said slyly with a wink and he chuckled "Hermione you're scaring me what has Malfoy done to you?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, in my defence Black, she wasn't complaining" a voice sounded from the doorway of the kitchen and Hermione grinned devilishly taking in her newly appointed boyfriend's appearance.

He was dressed in a black t-shirt with a navy blue man cardigan on top of it. He wore loose fitting muggle boy's jeans and Fred Perry branded pumps. His wardrobe really had improved since he'd gained unlimited access to his trust fund. His hair was in its usual sexy, messed up fashion and his icy blue eyes glinted in the strong candle light of the room. Sirius rolled his eyes "put your tongue away Hermione you're drooling down your chin" he joked and Malfoy smirked cockily.

Suddenly, there was the scraping of a chair across the floor and a flash of short red hair as Ron disappeared from the room; most probably to sulk in his bedroom.

"Someone's a little bitter…" Sirius said seriously and she sighed as Draco walked up to her and started to rub her shoulders in comfort.

"Can I steal her for a couple of hours Black?" Malfoy asked and Sirius fixed him with a stare filled with unidentifiable emotion for a second before looking at Hermione.

"Get lost then kiddo, if he causes you any trouble though, let me know and I'll kick his skinny arse" he said, humour flashing in his gun metal grey eyes. She grinned at him warmly and nodded, standing up and leaving with Malfoy.

"Keep and eye on him Harry" Sirius said, still not completely trusting the young blonde. Harry nodded in understanding but looked worried "Ron wont stop being a dick to Hermione… he's never like this" he sighed and Sirius frowned handsomely.

"He cheated on her! He's bloody lucky I haven't knocked the shit out of him yet and I'm allowing him to stay in my house… well, your house but it doesn't matter. He has no right to be upset when he's the reason for his own pain" Sirius exclaimed, an angry look in his eyes.

Sirius and Hermione had argued like cat and dog from the moment they'd met but he was fond of the young girl, she was a good friend of his and he thought of her as a little sister. He was almost as protective of her as he was of Harry.

Ron however… considering he was related to the guy, he hardly liked him much at all. Of course, he would never let anything happen to him because Harry loved him but the boy had always tried to hard to get him to like him. He was nice enough of course and showed random bursts of intelligence and bravery but he was dense, socially dumb and really quite selfish. For a boy who'd been brought up in a very poor environment, he was spoilt and expected his mother to do everything for him. The boy was never going to be good enough for someone like Hermione.

"Go talk to him Harry" Ginny said quietly.

Ginny was a completely different matter entirely. Harry was his son in his mind and so Ginny was his daughter. He loved her, she was brilliant and he was very proud of Harry for finding someone like her and being totally infatuated with her. They deserved each other wholly even if Ginny was eerily like Lily except a lot more carefree and tomboyish.

"You okay?" Sirius asked and she drew in a deep, tired breath.

"Even with the Dreamless sleep potion Snape's brewing, these stupid bloody nightmares won't leave me alone. I guess it's all good though, Hermione's really, really happy with Malfoy, me and Harry are happy. Ron's the only one who's ruining everything" she sighed.

Sirius smiled at her warmly "Harry's probably going to propose soon, knowing him".

She blushed furiously but couldn't help smiling at the table.

* * *

><p>"SHE LOVES YOU!" Harry shouted exasperatedly and Ron punched the wall.<p>

"BULLSHIT" he yelled back and Harry groaned in frustration.

"She wouldn't be worrying about losing you so much if she didn't. You're being the prejudiced one now! You're bitter just because she's not _in_ love with you anymore. We fought a war over people who couldn't look passed the cover of the book Ron! People died to stop this kind of thing and now you're being the one judging Malfoy without actually knowing him" Harry said, his voice shaking with anger as though he could not believe what Ron was saying; this was not the boy he'd grown up with.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Ron shouted back and Harry shook his head at him "I love Hermione probably more than anyone else on the planet. She's happy with Malfoy so I'm happy for her. Malfoy is a good guy really. He's alright, a good mate…" Harry spoke carefully.

"MATE? You're friends with him as well? Brilliant! I'm losing you to him as well" Ron bellowed, his eyes wide as spit sprayed with the ferocity of his anger.

"NO! YOU'RE DOING THAT YOURSELF!"

* * *

><p>Three weeks into the holidays and Hermione was spending every minute she could with Malfoy. He seemed to have the same idea because he'd mentioned a few times that his mother was nagging at him to actually see her during the twelve hours that he spent awake or not in Hermione's bed.<p>

"You're staring again" he said with a smirk, not opening his eyes as the sun shone down on them. He was settled against the bark of a tree set right in the line of the sunlight casting its silvery glow across the field outside the Weasley's house.

Malfoy had reluctantly agreed to come and see her at this setting because he missed her. He may have let go of his beliefs but he still couldn't sing the praises of the Weasley's and so she left it at that, knowing that it would probably never change.

Her, Harry, Ginny and Ron had gone to see Sirius for the first few weeks of the summer at Grimmauld place and had now travelled to the burrow to spend the last couple of weeks of their holiday there before they went back to school.

Ginny, Harry, Bill and George were all splashing about in the small river running through the residence while Charlie and Percy sat cross legged on the grass playing wizard's chest happily.

Hermione and Draco had distanced themselves only slightly from the rest of the group so they could be more… comfortable and that they were indeed. Hermione was sat between his outstretched legs, her head resting back on his chest. She had her hair pulled up into a pony tail, a few wavy strands falling forward to frame her face. She wore a navy blue bikini top and deliberately tattered denim mini shorts. On her face were beige coloured fashion sunglasses and she wore no make up in case she sweat it off during the heat of the day.

"I was not staring… I was observing" she replied and he smirked, still not opening his eyes.

"It's okay that you find me gorgeous Granger, a lot of people do" he quipped and she elbowed him in the abdomen making him sit forward slightly and hiss in pain.

"Bitch!" he cursed, rubbing his stomach.

She rolled her eyes and brought herself up on her knees, turning to face him before straddling his lap more comfortably.

"You're a tease" he accused, his mouth automatically seeking her skin as he peppered his lips softly across her neck and collar bone, his hands moving slowly up and down her bent legs. She sighed dreamily and kissed him tenderly, her tongue lazily grazing over his teeth and tongue. He made a guttural sound deep in his throat and grabbed her legs, pulling her closer as her hands wound up around his neck to play with his hair, her fingers scraping maddeningly over his scalp.

"Merlin Granger! We're in the middle of a bloody field!" he groaned and but she only kissed him harder.

"If you don't stop I'm going to fuck you right here. I mean it! Stop it!" he gasped and she pouted at him, pulling away. "You're no fun" she said and he raised his eyebrows, trying to get his breath back "And if Molly Weasley decides to come and check on everyone?" he asked and she gave up.

"Fine but you're staying over tonight" she demanded, placing a soft kiss on his lips quickly before pulling him in for a warm, tight hug. She closed her eyes, breathing in his sent as he held her yet closer, relaxing a little and fastening a death grip around her waist. It wasn't painful though, far from it.

This was the best part of being with Draco; the hugs. They were amazing and filled her with a hot, fuzzy feeling that could calm her no matter the situation. The feel of his lean body and strong arms wrapped around her was excellent and she could quite easily spend an eternity losing herself in the feel of his skin against hers.

"How long have we been together now?" she asked him thoughtfully, not breaking away from the embrace as she still straddled his hips, his knees lifted up behind her to give her more of a seat where they rested.

"About a month and a half… why do you ask?" he inquired, his eyes searching her own, a perplexed look about them. "Just wondering" she sighed softly.

"How long were you with dickhead for?" he asked her and she chuckled. "Just a few months. By then he was talking about moving in together…" she said and Malfoy raised his eyebrows "I thought you'd have been the one nagging him to get serious".

She wiggled her hips in retort and he groaned a little too loudly "cheeky little minx" he scolded and she laughed "You knew this about me" she repeated his words from their first kiss and he growled at her in a doggish kind of way, making her blush and giggle and she took that as her cue to get up and run like hell…


	13. Chapter 13

Hey!

So... yeah, I know I said I was going to be updating a lot and I haven't really in the last week or so. I'm sorry, writers block again and I re-wrote this three times because I kept letting Malfoy slip out of character. Anyway, I hope this is okay for you. I'm still not sure if I like it or not, let me know please? It really is much appreciated when I get reviews and, once again, I do check my emails and I know people favorite and alert and I really do thank you for doing that as well, it reminds me that people still actually read my work. ;)

Thanks again my little lovelies, enjoy :)

Dee xxxxx

P.S This ones a bit angsty, I'll try to put the humour back in the next one... sorry again. Uninteresting note: quote for this chappie is from one of my favourite poets/ poems! ;) :D

* * *

><p>Their's not to make reply, their's not to reason why, their's but to do and die. Into the valley of death, rode the six hundred. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson.<p>

* * *

><p>Snape leant back in his chair with a tired growl and pinched his nose between his finger and thumb, trying to relieve some of the pressure lodged painfully between his forehead and brain. This week had been a brutal one and to top it all off, the man he'd hated had left him something in his will.<p>

This something had only added to the amount of shit going on in his head; a picture.

The only picture ever documented of himself and Lily together.

For gods sake! He didn't even love the woman anymore; that had ended at some point in between her son's fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts when things had started to get really bad. He'd suddenly found himself protecting the stupid child anyway. Found himself going to yet higher, more desperate measures to keep the boy breathing. Not out of love for the boys mother though, for the simple fact that Potter would indeed kill Voldemort, that much had always been obvious to a clever man like him. He had figured out that Potter was a Horcrux long before Dumbledore and requested for him to carry out his godson's mission for him.

And so Severus had managed to keep himself alive long enough to ensure that Potter was able to kill Tom Riddle… the only thing was, what was he supposed to do now?

He wasn't in love with Lily anymore but it still pained him to know that he caused her death. Despite popular opinion, he had not asked Potter to look at him so he could see Lily's eyes one last time; a pathetic and dramatically romantic theory that was not and would never be in his nature. No, he had simply wanted to check that Potter really had been worth dying for. Sure enough, the boy still had hope in his eyes that pushed passed the pain and blood that let him relax and except death with bitter satisfaction that he'd proved his purpose. Severus had just wanted to die in peace.

But Miss Granger, being her overly heroic self, had decided to have one last go at tying him to life and had sucked the snake venom out of his neck. For that he was not sure whether he wanted to slap her or thank her for as he had nothing left but teaching now and even that played host to some pretty ghastly memories that still woke him up at night.

He did not know what he really wanted now. He didn't have a clue who he was apart from the ex-deatheater, undercover spy, war hero that he had been for most of his life.

Shit.

* * *

><p>Ignorance was peace, as was innocence but there was a difference. Even the darkest of wizards were ignorant of some kind of truth. Innocence… true innocence was to be pure. To be untainted and undamaged by anything.<p>

No one was innocent, not even a newborn child. It was unsettling as well as slightly comforting. Draco found it a little more of a comfort that no one was innocent and so therefore no one could judge him for being evil. It was also sad that there was so much that could hurt people now.

He was destructive… he didn't know how much that part of him had changed and so he didn't actually know how much he could actually hurt Hermione.

"Granger?" he asked slowly one day when they were back at Hogwarts. Due to their very late start back at the school and everything that had happened, their exam schedules had been completely messed around. McGonagall, aware of this fact, had offered students who felt ready a chance to take their NEWT's early. The ministry was pushing her for workers as well.

So Draco, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Pavarti and Dean had all agreed that they'd studied enough to do so. The rest of the Gryffindor seventh years who were not taking early entry, had all been pushed up to a December entry and had been given two months to get themselves prepared for all the classes involved.

Currently, Hermione and Draco weren't really talking to each other as they'd had yet another argument. Over what, neither were really sure but that wasn't an issue, they fought all the time. The problem was, they were both too stubborn to apologize to the other. And of course, both stormed around the castle, frightening their friends with their dangerous moods and shouting at random people.

"What do you want?" she asked in a sharp, angry voice.

"We have exams in three days" he stated and she growled, she wasn't in the mood for people stating the obvious, most definitely not Draco.

"Oh well done Dray, ten points to Slytherin!" she exclaimed sarcastically but he chose to ignore her attitude as she pretended that she was still reading.

"And you're not concentrating anymore than I am" he finished his previous sentence and she lifted her gaze from her book to glance sideways at the table for a second before it flickered back to the page but her eyes did not move from the top of the text.

"Don't flatter yourself Malfoy, I'm studying just fine" she shot and still her honey brown eyes did not move from one spot on the paper she was supposed to be reading. "Yes I'm sure you are… is that why all your friends are avoiding you? You can't bloody lie to me Hermione, I'm not a fucking retard and I can tell when you're upset" he drawled venomously but his tone softened when her first name slipped gently from his lips. His pride was taking a beating for him to do this, he absolutely hated saying sorry but… he missed her. He couldn't hold down any conversations with anyone, not even Blaise or his mother and he wasn't sleeping properly again. He kind of needed her to function properly, even if he was still very angry with her.

"And what makes you think you know me?" she said slowly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him properly since he'd entered the library. "Look me in the eye and tell me that this isn't messing you up" he demanded. She held his glare determinedly and looked as though she was going to try to say something for a second before she shook her head "I don't need to explain myself to you" she sad quietly, she went to look back at her book but he slammed his fist down on the table, making her look at him.

"I'm your boyfriend, you have to explain things to me to a certain extent Granger, I thought you knew how this relationship thing worked… talk to me" he slowed his words and looked away from her with the last section as he fought to keep his face angry.

It took her a few seconds and he knew she was thinking furiously before she closed her book and put it neatly on the table. She took a deep breath and moved her chair sideways so it was facing him and motioned for him to sit down.

"What did you want to talk about because I haven't got all day" she snapped and he drew in a breath threw gritted teeth, why did she have to be so god damned attractive when she was angry? It was bloody infuriating!

"I want you to tell me what exactly we're arguing about, because I can't even really remember" he requested, struggling to keep his voice calm as he approached the situation as cool minded as possible.

"All that matters is that we had another fight, that's what we do Malfoy. We're Draco and Hermione, that's the way this 'thing' works. Don't even try to say that it's not because I told you from day one that we'd constantly be throwing shit and tearing chunks out of each other. There's still just too much hate between us, that's why we argu-"

"The hell is it, we would still fight like crazy even if we didn't have a history and you know it" he countered, interrupting her little Granger rant, causing her to stiffen her posture and stick her chin up ever so slightly, he probably wouldn't have noticed if he didn't know her mannerisms so well.

"That may be the case bu-"

"And I made it perfectly clear to you from the start that there was a lot of things that I'd done that you really shouldn't know about. I'm not keeping these things from you to spite you Granger, surely you know me better than that? I don't explain these things to you because I care about you and I know they'd cause you pain. If you really want to hear it then fine, let's start right at the beginning shall we? And I'll tell you the story of my pathetic life and how I let myself become my bastard father's obedient little puppet"

"Draco, I really don't think… well, I just wan-"

"I was eight when I first saw someone die. Yes, you can sit there and gasp but that's how it was for me. Don't be surprised when I tell you that all the hating muggleborn shit and hurting them for fun stopped when the Dark Lord died because my father still brought them back and hurt them in front of me. Pahh! He told me it was for my own good and that I needed to be 'ready to serve my purpose' more like ready to be you-know-who's bitch boy. So there I am, eight year old little shit with my expensive robes sat in my own library with my expensive books and my father kicks what was called a 'mudblood' into the room. I got up to leave but he stopped me and told me to sit and enjoy the fucking show! My mother tried to protest but he hit her and knocked her unconscious then he turned, grabbed this girl by the hair and shoved her head in the carpet while he raped her right there in front of me"

He drew in a sharp breath but there were no tears in his angry eyes. Hermione could have sworn she saw the pits of blue darken and dilate as he spoke. She looked around nervously and cast a quick wandless 'muffliato' so that no one would hear them and then turned to look back at him as he braced himself for the next part of his story. She didn't really want to hear it but she knew she had to so she could get over the past she had with her ex-bully.

"My mum had to dose me up on ten different potions that night to calm me down. She thought I was going to suffocate because I was shaking so much and even then my father tried to stop her comforting me. The next one wasn't until I'd started Hogwarts; second year actually and I got home expecting to have a full manor of house elves at my service and my mother smiling at me while I opened my presents over afternoon tea. Of course, my father had other ideas and decided that 'Uncle Rockwood' could come over for the day while they massacred and tortured a whole room of writhing muggles; both men and women. I think there was even a kid about my age as well but it was all the same to me really. He'd locked the door and Petrificussed me so I'd be forced to watch their sick little grins and smirks while they blew off a bit of 'tension and steam from a hard years work' course, the evil fucktards just wanted to mess with my twelve year old head and have their fun. From then on I had it drilled harder and harder into me that all things below pureblood were complete and utter scum. I knew my father had some kind of plan to do something big that year but I wasn't entirely sure it was him until I heard the rumours at the end of the year about his run in with Potter after the chamber of secrets shit and then Potter freed Dobby. By the way, shit idea with the Polyjuice potion, I figured out your little plot when I heard about your run in with Mil's cat. Brilliant potions work and all that Granger and I'm flattered you'd think me as powerful and stupid as the heir of Slytherin but still a long shot. Then there was the Sirius Black business and I guessed something was wrong when my dad started writing to Bellatrix in Azkaban again without telling mother. Yet I was still a bratty little dickwad and I still caused an unnecessary amount of pain for you. To be honest with you, I didn't hate you because my dad told me to or because you were an obnoxious little twat back then, I hated you because you scared me. You got top marks, you did all this powerful stuff that I still didn't dream of doing… you were brave enough to be the first person to stand up to me and it frightened me shitless because you made me question everything I'd ever believed in. Then you fought a fucking werewolf, stunned a teacher and helped the most hated convict in the world escape from prison on a stolen Hippogriff, the same bloody fucking chicken that ripped my arm open if I remember correctly. I just hated you even more; I wanted to kill you every time I looked at you and then I was scared of that because I had urges to take someone's life at the age of thirteen; how fucked up is that? It was even worse that I found myself thinking about you at random moments, I caught myself looking at you all the time; still with hate, don't get me wrong… but I was still staring at you and it just wasn't right, it wasn't normal.

Then you went and hexed me in front of our potions class and… shit, you have no idea how angry I was, I literally would have killed you if I hadn't felt Snape invading my mind a few corridors away so it took everything I had just to throw a jinx at you, something that would make your insecurities worse; it took some of the weight off me if you hated yourself that little bit more as well. I wasn't expecting you to let Pomfrey go a bit further and shrink them to a better size. At this point your hair wasn't all bushy and frizzy anymore, you didn't have big teeth and your nose was growing into your face. I also doubted my prejudices as well so I was rapidly running out of taunts to fuck with your head and I didn't have that distraction from the killing and raping at home anymore, I didn't have something to take all that anger on now because… well… you were beautiful. Then there was the god damned ball and the Tournament and father had told me of this plan. He'd told me his mark was growing darker and that they would be attacking places soon and spreading terror. Then Potter got back from that graveyard just as I was about to leave because my mother had grabbed me from the stands to take me back home were we wouldn't be arrested or anything when she felt her mark burn and she kind of collapsed and Potter was still screaming and crying and I thought someone was going to notice my mother rolling about clutching her arm so I just dissaparated us. It was bloody awful, I splinched my chest and I passed out because my body just wasn't old enough for that type of magic, I wasn't strong enough to withstand that type of transportation radiating from my own body.

My mother tended to me and father came back screaming and smashing things up, claiming that we were barely forgiven for our 'disloyalty' and that he'd been tortured after Potter had escaped. He was just as much the double agent as Snape. He had to sort out all the accusations made against us, the whole 'ministry not believing Potter' thing worked it all out pretty easily but he had to maintain the balance between keeping the rep up and working as Voldy's little boy toy. It wasn't until fifth year when I realized Potter was actually messing himself up. Things were happening too frequently and there was this pathetic thing with the 'weapon' and I would overhear my father and mother arguing about me now and again and I knew it was only a matter of time before they deemed me old enough to take the mark.

I've always been a bit of a coward but… shit… there is nothing more terrifying than knowing that you were going to be forced to become your father and be bonded to the most evil man who ever walked the planet. I lost my appetite and I wasn't sleeping for more than half an hour a night. Gradually, my father whispered things back into my brain and he brought a girl in the one day and asked me to torture her. It took me three tries and I still didn't get it right but she screamed so loud… I didn't think I could handle much more. I knew I was losing myself but I just couldn't see a way out anymore. I missed classes, puked up any food I tried to keep down at Hogwarts and then there was the department of Mysteries and I knew it was time. I knew I was going to have to take the mark after that and my father turned up, grabbed me and flooed us straight into the fucking fight! I was not expecting my first fight to be with a bunch of classmates… the children I hated but had grown up with all the same. The people who were like me. Bellatrix fucking stood there and grinned at me when I managed to tie up Lovegood and knock out Longbottom. That was when she turned around and killed Black. I kind of froze. I didn't know the guy and I was supposed to hate him but he was my flesh and blood, her flesh and blood. That was the moment I realized that we were all the same and we weren't going to be spared because of our blood status. We weren't going to win by being on the winning side; we were still going to die. My father started to see it to over the coming weeks and now our name meant nothing within the ministry and nothing within the ranks of the deatheaters. Lucius Malfoy was in prison and so his son was chosen to destroy his own school. A castle full of children his age, children whom he knew and recognised as equals. He was being asked to sign their death sentences one by one as he made progress on his mission. You know about the vanishing cabinets of course and I was still devastated and disgusted with myself over what happened with Gemma I was changing and morphing. My body was that of a man's but my mind was still teenage, I was still scared. It didn't matter though, to me there was no way out. I had to do it, I had to kill Dumbledore or Voldemort was going to kill me… and my mother.

Things just dropped from then on. Snape killed Dumbledore and so had fulfilled his unbreakable vow to my mother. She could keep me reasonably safe now and my father was back in the manor along with Lord fucking Voldemort and his little bimbos running around killing people for him. I watched Charity Burbage die, I watched the man who had given me the tool to develop my magical ability at the age of eleven being tortured into a very old man, I watched countless women and men being raped, beaten and killed. I saw, even carried out acid drops on skin, scorpion stings in pits of them, electric cables attached to peoples skin.

Hermione you need to get it out of your head that I was a scared, frightened little boy who didn't hurt anyone too seriously. I… I made people; women, men, children, half-breeds, bloodtraitors, muggleborns… I made people scream until they begged me to kill them. Admittedly, I hated it more than anything in the entire universe but I was still there, I still did it and whether I wanted to do it or not, I am still a deatheater" he finished looking forcefully into her eyes.

Tears were pouring like soft, warm, transparent waterfalls down her pretty face silently as she simply looked at him while he caught his breath back.

After what seemed like forever, she took a deep breath and leaned forward, her hand going around to cup the back of his neck and pull his face to hers. She leaned her forehead against his with a tiny sob. She placed a chaste, passionate peck on his lips and closed her eyes, revelling in their skin to skin contact before she managed to choke out, in merely a soft cry of a whisper.

"I don't care"


	14. Chapter 14

HI!

So you'll see why I wrote this chapter at the very end of it and hopefully, it will make up for me making you cry with the last chapter. Reviews were amazing and as always, they make my day better :) Hope you like this, I'm not sure if it was a bit over the top or not but Harry's happier now so I thought I'd make him a bit more of an uplifting guy. Next Chapter; start their lives away from Hogwarts for the first time without Voldemort!

Review!

Dee xxx

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><p>"Now we're back to the beginning, it's just a feeling and no one knows yet. But just because they can't feel it too, doesn't mean that you have to forget. Let your memories grow stronger and stronger,'til they're before your eyes. You'll come back when they call you, no need to say goodbye"~ Regina Spektor- The call<p>

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><p>"You did what Harry?" she asked in astonishment as they sat down. A small celebration area had been set up down by the lake of Hogwarts. A tiny stage was stood in front of about a hundred or so chairs assigned to parents and children alike as more people arrived to watch the seventh years graduate.<p>

Hermione's body was bursting desperately with nerves and she kept having to go to the toilet and sipping a tiny flask of which the contents she refused to reveal to anyone. Malfoy was clutching her hand tightly when he wasn't sneaking of to have cigarettes under the smoking shelter which was really just a mini marquee.

All students were in long, black robes and were wearing their house ties. McGonagall's failure to specify whereabouts they were meant to wear them then lead to the stern old mentor having to go around the site rectifying people who had tied the fabric around sometimes inappropriate places on their bodies.

"I did!" Harry replied to Hermione, more excitedly than she could ever really remember hearing him saying anything.

"What? Don't look at me like that Hermione, I just think my dad would have been a bit disappointed in me if I didn't let this go out with a bang" he defended himself. Ron had a big, stupid grin on his face next to Harry and didn't seem to be worrying at all about Hermione and Draco's relationship today as he simply looked too nervously happy to worry about anything but the piece of paper that would determine their future.

"You okay?" a curt but kind voice sounded in her ear as she felt Malfoy sit down beside her as his fingers resumed their rightful place laced firmly with hers.

"Yeah, I think so" she smiled sadly at him and he nodded once, letting her head lean sideways into the warm crook of his neck.

"What were you cursing Potter about?" Malfoy asked. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Harry thinks it would be funny to pull something at the end of this" she informed in a disapproving voice worthy of the old Hermione.

"More like his father than you thought then is he? Not that any of his feeble ideas would match up to the rumours I've heard about James Potter of course, seriously girl, you want to hear some of the stuff that guy did. If he wasn't a Gryffindor and wonderboy's daddy, I'd even say he was a legend" Draco remarked thoughtfully and she giggled against his neck. Harry scowled playfully sideways, having heard what Malfoy had said "Don't even deny you love me really Dray" Harry chuckled deeply making Hermione's heart do a leap of surprise, how had she only just noticed how deep her best friend's voice had gotten?

"Of course Potter, I will admit to the world that I'm officially obsessed with the darling boy-who-wont-fucking-die" Draco said loudly, getting a couple of chuckles and girlish cackles from some nearby women who'd been staring intently at him in his new robes.

Hermione glared at them making Draco laugh a little "bit crabby today are we? I'd better be careful, you might start baring your fangs in a minute" he teased and she pouted at him, her hand snapping out of his so that she could cross her arms over her chest and lean back in her seat. Harry smirked at her, Ron pointedly remained detached from their antics and Hermione near growled when Draco grinned evilly down at her.

"I doubt your fangs would ever be as sharp as mine though Gryffindor" he winked devilishly and she growled at him, brilliant humour flashing brightly in her brown eyes. She sat back up though and grabbed his hand back as she leant back over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Maybe one day we'll find out".

"What are you doing then Harry?" Dean Thomas asked as he took a seat in the row in front of them and turned the top half of his body round to face them. "What makes you think he's doing anything?" Hermione asked smirking as Ginny shot a wandless spell at Ron, making him move up so she could sit next to Harry.

"Well, James Potter was the most famous kid prankster who ever went to Hogwarts; surely Harry would do something to mark the occasion just this once. I mean, when James graduated like this, he spiked the minister's drink so he thought he was a pretty little pansy. He got cautioned for it and everything. It took them three days to find the antidote, Dumbledore had to take his place for a little while" Dean informed with a cheeky, handsome grin.

"Really? Let's just say his dad's going to be doing a rather gay happy dance with Fred, Sirius, Remus and Peter up there while his mum sits and glares at him like Hermione" Ron commented. Hermione glared at him but he just shrugged his shoulders and Harry chuckled to himself.

"So Mione, you got our party planned tonight?" Harry asked, deliberately changing the subject. Everyone looked at her expectantly and she nodded indifferently.

"It's in a house I hired in Torpoint over in England. I've set something up in the nearby park/field joined onto the house by a river. Don't worry, I've got all the muggle repelling charms sorted, it all quite high security" she assured Harry who had opened his mouth to interrupt her.

Just as he was about to reply, McGonagall was being helped onto the stage by Hagrid and everyone had sat down to listen to her.

"There aren't many generations I come across when there are people who capture my heart and make me care about them like I would my own children. Every twenty or so years, a couple of fifth or sixth year students make me proud or make me smile, which, to those who know me is actually a rather rare occurrence. I would just like to say, before we begin, I have not had such an amazing group of seventh years since what has quickly come to be known as 'the marauders era'. I believe it is named that because twenty one years ago, four young men graduated from this school and made history. The same four young men, who were unruly troublemakers, have been documented in books and newspapers without even trying. Let me tell you that these young men were probably the finest people I have ever come across. They were kind and funny and brave. They stood up for each other and valued friendship more than anything. The people who lived with them in the dorms, laughed at their outrageous pranks, ate dinner with them in the great hall, celebrated victory with them and shook hands with other houses when they did not win. These people were your parents, they lived to make you, and, in the words of Remus Lupin himself 'to make a better world in which you could live in'. I am most thankful that I've had the chance to once again deal with yet another Potter's remarkable disregard for school rules. I'm thankful that I got to smile proudly for the first time at a Malfoy and that I get to look at our school's first Granger and feel that she's grown up to be the very best which of her generation. I am so very happy that I have had the chance to watch a Weasley finally outwit his brothers and become famous for supporting wholly the force that effectively saved the wizarding world. Many names could be mentioned; Thomas: almost as much of a player as Sirius Black and rather good with Transfiguration, brave when faced with Voldemort himself. Brown: not all she's made out to be and kind hearted and scrappy enough to use her beauty and intelligence to get what she wants. Patil sisters: gorgeous, clever and funny, open minded and showed a teacher support when it seemed no one else would, I believe Professor Trelawney is going to love you girls like her own offspring. Abbot: loyal and proud, gifted in charms and potions and the only student ever in history to get along with Severus Snape! Zabini: did what was right in the end and stands for what he holds dear, somewhat maintains Mr Malfoy's… boisterous temper when Miss Granger is unable to. Parkinson: strong minded and true, outspoken and a complete whiz in arithmancy, calculated and cunning and kind hearted deep down. I could go on; saying good and bad things about every single student in this year and the one below it, none of it would make a difference or make me favour any one of you above the rest. You are one of the years that I will remember in my old heart until the day I die… and for that, I thank you." McGonagall received several chuckles and laughs during her speech and by the end of it, several girls were crying and most of the boys were looking fondly at their headmistress and rather solemn as they finally started to realize that they really would not be coming back to the school to learn ever again.

"But I understand that we have done all we can here at Hogwarts to prepare you for what lies ahead. You have more life experience than most and so I trust whole heartedly that you will be the most successful generation yet. Now, to begin, I call Miss Hannah Abbot to the stage to collect her NEWT scroll and proceed to exit to then do whatever you want with it…" McGonagall started and slowly, one by one, the seats emptied. Some people came back to their places and waited with their friends to open it, clutching the rolled up parchment as if their lives depended on it. Others scurried off somewhere in the grounds to open their results in private, some gathered in a small bubble at the side of the stage ready to greet their friends and open them together with the teachers who were also there to show their support. Even Snape had turned out to gruffly congratulate Hannah on her top mark for potions and to see Draco and Hermione's marks.

After everyone had opened their scrolls and strayed around into little groups congratulating and squealing loudly at each other in happiness.

Hermione had actually cried when she realized she'd got top grades in everything and Harry had simply swallowed and smiled widely when he saw he had all he needed to become an Auror. Ron had all the qualifications he needed to back himself up if his quidditch career failed and had chosen that moment to reveal he'd gotten a place in some foreign quidditch team that Hermione had never heard of and would be playing keeper first game of the season. Draco had passed everything with only a few marks below Hermione and had grunted when she'd practically jumped on him and enveloped him in a huge, overenthusiastic hug that he returned in his usual nonchalant fashion. Dean Thomas had what he wanted to join the research department at the ministry and Lavender had cried into Ron's shoulder over her high charms grading and had sobbed that she was going to become a magical beautician for a make up company branching out new products for witches and opening salons in wizarding communities. The Patil sisters had both announced that they would be opening their own mini divination school to teach the theory to children. Everyone seemed to have what they wanted with the few exceptions who quickly re-appointed their career plans to suit their academical achievements.

When things had settled down and people were eating snacks off tables and taking champagne from house elves politely carrying small trays, Hermione had immediately felt something wrong in the magical auras around her.

She looked around at Harry who was trying, and failing miserably, to look innocent.

"I mean it Harry if you don't tel-"

She was cut of when a blue spark shot noisily across the sky above them with a loud swish and then vanished with a crack that made everyone jump (Lavender screamed and grabbed onto Dean tightly as he glanced around nervously.

Hermione moved to grab Harry's collar but was stopped in her tracks when McGonagall's shriek of his name echoed around the chatter making everyone go quiet. Just as people began to laugh at her stood in a pink, overly frilly and extremely short night dress, her long hair dropping out of its tight bun, pops sounded everywhere and the Hogwarts suits of armour appeared in the crowd wearing naughty lingerie. The Hufflepuffs found themselves unable to move from the spot they were stood in and many of them lost their balances and found other parts of their bodies glued to the floor. The Slytherins, including a murderous looking Draco were sprouting green snakes from their heads and feathery angel wings grew from their spines; they were also glued to the spot but all were able to keep stood upright and were shouting insults at anyone who would listen. The Gryffindors, minus Ginny and Harry, had their skin dyed red and were all suddenly wearing Santa outfits and their noses were growing big and rosy, also unable to move from the spot, many fell over on their faces and were stuck lying face first on the grass. The Ravenclaws had big blue birdie beaks and tiny claws poked out of their fingernails while they all tried muttering spells they knew to try and reverse the pranks as their legs were pulled from under them in an invisible force and they all landed on their bums, cursing loudly along with the Slytherins.

All the teachers were simply stood on the spot laughing while McGonagall continued to shout out for Harry to release her at once. Hermione was looking as though she was ready to actually kill him and her eyes were wide. Many people had gotten over the initial shock by now and were beginning to laugh at themselves and each other, everyone except Harry and Ginny still unable to move from the spot they'd been caught in.

As things started to lighten up and Dr Filbusters fireworks filled the grounds and exploded by peoples faces, forming playful shapes and singing loud music, Harry turned slowly to a giggling Ginny and wrapped and an arm around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head and whispered softly in her ear with a small chuckle.

"Happy Birthday"


	15. Chapter 15

Hey!

This one's a bit short but I'm going to write another one in the next few days and make it long. I'm going to Butlins for four days next week and then I'm straight up to Cannock, Walsall and then Birmingham for the week after so I'll only be able to write, I wont be able to upload. Hopefully I'll have a few chapters for you by the time I get back ;)

Snape has a new... friend? *raises one eyebrow* really? YAY!

Dee xxx

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><p>"I'm supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure, even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders" Eminem ~ Like toy soldiers<p>

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><p>Hermione drew in a sharp breath through her teeth and adjusted her hair so it was back in place. It was longer and seemed to have gotten darker now summer was over. It was now in shiny, dark brown, bouncy, elegant curls all the way down her back. She was wearing a tight fitting blazer with blood red silk on the inside. She wore leg hugging, tailored black trousers and simple black, ridiculously high stilettos. She had covered her eyes in thin layer of dark liner and expensive mascara and her lips were painted in a gloss designed to draw blood to the lips.<p>

She checked her mobile quickly and dropped it back into her pocket before turning to look at the man showing her around the large plush flat.

It was all spacious, wide rooms and shiny glass coffee tables with one master bedroom complete with a large en-suit that played home to a shower bigger than the kitchen. The walls were painted either beige or white and it screamed airy and bright; just what she needed after all the trouble she'd had. The carpets were a deep, dark, chocolate colour and went beautifully in contrast with the walls and ceilings. The living room was huge and opened up onto a very, very long balcony that was separated from the lounge by a glass window covering most of the back wall and had a completely open view of the whole of London.

The kitchen had a silver theme and was a grill and cooker fused together onto of black marble surfaces and a big sink.

"Hmmm… £370,000 you say? And there aren't any rules against pets? Right then, I'll take it" she finalised in a strong, feminine voice. The man holding the clipboard on the other side of the room looked absolutely relieved she'd decided to buy it and got to work pulling out the necessary paperwork immediately. She pulled a parker pen out of the front pocket of her blazer and walked forwards to sit on the sofa and sign her name elegantly on the dotted line at the bottom of the page.

"Well then, that's sorted. You should be set to move in tomorrow Miss Granger" the muggle estate agent bowed happily and gestured for her to follow him out of the room, his eyes raking over her body one last time before he locked the door behind them and handed her the keys.

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><p>"How nice" Snape's voice drawled in the typical bored tone as a giggling muggle woman of about thirtee downed another shit of Vodka and continued with her story he wasn't listening to.<p>

"She's harmless really; she's in here all the time. Constantly got a guy on her shoulder hanging onto every word she's saying" the bartender said in a crisp, female American accent as she leant against the bar and raised her eyebrows, watching the woman burst into another loud cackling fit.

On the TV attached to the wall behind them, the football team playing for England missed a goal and the bar tender hissed some surprising swear words under her breath.

"You're a witch" he stated quietly, creasing his brow together. She was young; probably about twenty five and she was wearing simple three quarter length, figure hugging jeans and a white nylon vest. Her hair was long, dark and straight and her skin was very tanned and flawless. She had bright green eyes and soft, dark lips. It was obvious she was beautiful and actually a little bit of a tomboy due to her sweatbands on her wrist and the trainers on her feet. She also had a slightly boyish tone to her rich, striking voice. She was a woman and held herself as such and she spoke with a woman's voice but something about her just showed immediately that she could be 'one of the boys'.

"Shocker!" she exclaimed sarcastically with a grin flashing a full set of straight, white teeth.

"I know you, you're Severus Snape right? That guy who was a double agent for Dumbledore against Voldemort" she said. For someone who was only about 5ft 6, she reeked confidence but it wasn't vein or in your face.

He nodded curtly and took another swig of whiskey.

He wasn't dressed in robes for once. He had just thrown on a dark blue t-shirt and jeans with some old battered Nike trainers. "I haven't taught you before, what school did you go to?" he asked, changing the subject as he didn't really like discussing the past with anyone, he didn't even like to think about it really.

"I was home tutored, my mum worked at Beauxbatons for a little while when she was in her twenties so she taught me everything she knows. I don't really use magic very much though I was always a muggle at heart. You taught at Hogwarts didn't yo- Oh, common! That was pathetic! Even bloody Gerard could have saved that!" she cursed at the TV again and turned to pour the still laughing woman another shot glass.

"Yes, Potions" he replied and she smiled when she turned back, handing the lady the glass without saying anything to her.

"Ahh, I've heard stories about you! You're the greasy dungeon back with a grudge against Harry aren't you? You don't look old, greasy and thin. Maybe a little grumpy but I was told you were all ugly and disgusting, clearly not" she spoke boldly, not really caring that her words could be counted as insulting.

"You know Potter personally?" he asked, ignoring what she'd said about his looks. He knew people called him ugly but it was a little strange that this girl had so confidently come out and told him that he wasn't.

"I've met him a couple of times. He works in the Auror office now right? I've flooed to my dad's manor a couple of times while Harry was there getting some information. Nice guy, marrying Ginny Weasley when she leaves Hogwarts in a couple of months" she blurted, seeming to have a never ending word flow in contrast to his brief answers. The weird thing was, he was hearing every word she was saying when he was supposed to be listening to the drunken woman next to him.

"Who's your father?" he asked, the interest beginning to creep back into his voice. "Tiberius McLaggen" she informed and then he recognised her.

"I see. And your name is Mila McLaggen right? You're cousin is a pompous bastard" he said and she chuckled "Cor? Oh trust me, I know. And it's 'Mi' please, I hate Mila. Dated Hermione Granger at one point didn't he?" she asked and Snape rolled his eyes.

"He went to a Christmas party with her once and the next day she was back to crying over Ron Weasley" Severus scoffed and she nodded "Yeah it's like Cor to boast about something that never actually happened. So where've you been since we all gloriously defeated Snake face then?" she asked and he couldn't help but smirk at her casual tone and nickname for the Dark Lord. She was alright.

"Teaching, avoiding bitch headmistresses, getting blind drunk… it's a fun life" he said sarcastically and she laughed. This caught his attention because it caused a warming in his gut. Her laugh was almost as beautiful and sexy as her, filled with joy and good natured humour.

"It sounds immense. Technically that's all I do except my mum's the bitch headmistress and I hate kids so I'd be a shit teacher" she shrugged, the last remains of her laughing running into the first couple of words. He smirked again "I hate children, I'm a shit teacher. Nothing to it" he said and she smiled at him fondly for some reason as though she'd already expected him to say something like that.

"You aren't a shit teacher. Didn't Skeeter write that almost every kid that just graduated from Hogwarts got a pass grade or above in Potions?" she said in a warm voice.

He shrugged his shoulders again and downed the rest of his glass, gesturing for her to get him another one. She nodded and went to it.

"You must get some sort of satisfaction from it or you wouldn't do it in the first place" she pushed as she turned back to face him and handed him the glass back. "I suppose it's a decent feeling when the kids actually learn something but it's very rare I get a good student that looks deeper than the textbooks. Take Granger for example, she's brilliant but she just doesn't apply what she learns in the books to what she does with her hands. It was never to the best of her ability because she believed that being able to recite ingredience was enough to impress future employers" he said, loosening up a little and speaking more.

"Ahh, I get what you mean. She was all words. I'm good at the practical stuff me. Never too good at reading though, I'm shit with textbooks and writing. I like to experiment with stuff. You don't learn unless you've got an open mind" she winked and he smirked in reply. "I have always been like that, I can tolerate it but reading non stop for hours and hours just becomes tiring unless it's a book worth reading" he nodded.

"Really? I'd have thought you'd love reading all the time being a teacher and all. You don't seem like what I'd have imagined you to be. I thought you would be a complete dead guy if I ever saw you in person. You've done a lot of shit I'm guessing so I guess I'm pleasantly surprised that you aren't a moody, brooding old, ugly man" she smiled kindly.

"Moody and brooding I can do and I'm thirty seven so I guess you could say I'm old. As for my appearance, I don't think myself any less than ugly or any more than what someone of my experience would look like after my years" he answered in usual stoic fashion. She shook her head in disbelief.

"But surely you realize you're not ugly" she said exasperatedly. He shook his head "I do not flaunt my insecurities Mi, I thought that was unattractive anyway" he said and she sighed.

"No! I guess you aren't the best looking guy but you're most definitely NOT ugly!" she scolded, playfully pointing her finger in his face, mock telling him off. For the first time in a very long time, he felt an amused smile playing at the corner of his lips. Her grin seemed to grow wider at his expression.

"So I finish in fifteen minutes, how about we go and get totally hammered?" she asked with a mischievous smile and he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm the teacher guy, wouldn't I be corrupting you or something?" he asked and she chuckled.

"Trust me Severus, I was corrupted a veerryyy long time ago"


	16. Chapter 16

Hey!

So I said I was going to give Snape a storyline and I kind of like this Mila girl that my imagination dreamed up! She's awesome! And she's going to have problems so that she and 'Snapie Pooh' can bond over their depression ;)

So, so sorry for the wait. I've been on holiday for two weeks and things have been a little crazy and my mum told me I wasn't allowed my laptop with me either. She even searched through my case to make sure; she just doesn't get that I like die if I don't write... so I brought two notepads and a packet of biros, you can probably imagine that she wasn't very impressed. Anyway, yeah, I'm sorry as usual ;).

Just started writing a Harmony as well so go read if you feel like it :).

I am going to try and keep up Dramione though and I'll have some kind of business situation that exposes them and makes things difficult. Humour again soon, just bare with me.

Enjoy ;)

Dee xxx

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><p>"Cos honestly you turned out to be the, best thing I never had" ~ Beyonce.<p>

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><p>There was a loud whooshing sound from outside in the street that pricked at his concentration first. He didn't look up from his book though.<p>

"I thought you didn't use magic" he drawled, a smirk kicking at the corner of his mouth, forcing it to twitch sideways as he lifted his gaze from his work and take in her appearance.

She had her hair back today and two of her straight strands fell on either side of her head to frame her face. She was wearing khaki mini shorts that stopped just at the top of her toned thighs where two long, lean and tanned legs showed. A beige corset top pulled what little weight she had in at the waist and she wore a surfing hoodie that was a little too baggy for her over the top. On her feet were two dark green flip flops that completed her mix and match look perfectly.

"Hey good lookin" she remarked cheekily and threw herself down on his sofa, flicking her legs up on his lap casually as though she'd lived here her whole life.

"Can't you go and annoy your mother or something?" he asked the smirk still firmly in place on his lips. She poked her tongue out at him and winked "No, my mum doesn't look at me all lustily" she said with the usual annoying confidence.

"Okay, first of all; is that even a word? And secondly, I do not look at you all lustily. If anything, _you_ eye rape _me_ all the time" he quipped back and she snapped her hand up to her chest, her mouth dropping open in mock offence.

"I don't do it _all _the time" she said in a fake defensive tone and he rolled his eyes at her, closing his book and throwing her legs off him so he could put it back.

"So come one then Sevvie pooh, what we doing today?" she inquired and he turned to look at her evilly.

He walked towards her and leant over her menacingly until their noses were almost touching and her breath was peppering unevenly across his face. "Again: one, I am not your babysitter and I am not here to entertain you when you're bored. Two, Never and I mean never call me Sevie pooh ever again if you value your life" he breathed in the same silky voice he always used.

She simply grinned widely at him, dragging her teeth over her bottom lip daringly and leaning her body up slightly so he was forced to move backward with her, keeping their faces the same distance apart all the time.

"One, I'm not a child, I don't need entertaining; I simply enjoy spending time with my friend… god knows why, you're a snarky git. Two, I happen to think that nickname is cute… and I think it's hilarious when you get all pissed off but you can't stay angry at me. I'm a bad girl, I like having that hold over you. So I repeat, Sevie pooh? What are we doing today?" she cooed, not at all phased by how close the proximity was between their bodies, even thriving from it.

"You're not going to leave me alone are you?" she smiled and shook her head like a child. He sighed and nodded "Fine, I have something to go over to Grimmauld Place for and then we can do whatever you want" he said in a bored, defeated tone. She chuckled and placed a tiny hand on his chest, pushing him backward in a swift movement and climbing over him to clamber over the sofa, not missing the feel of his hard, lean stomach as she brushed over him.

"Does this mean I have to meet big mad convict man Sirius Black?" she said in a baby voice and he chuckled slightly with a nod. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the fire. With another whooshing sound, they were gone.

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><p>Hermione was curled up on the sofa reading 'Never bite a boy on the first date' By Tamara Summers when two figures swirled up in the fireplace and Snape stepped out.<p>

Hermione's breath caught in her throat slightly when a girl stepped out after him clutching his hand as though it were perfectly normal… a beautiful girl. Sirius strode into the room at that point in time and Hermione immediately felt her stomach drop in dread; they were constantly fighting like they were boys all the time.

"Snivly! You come to see me again? Because you know I'd rather you didn… ohh, hello there darling, I didn't quite see you there" Sirius's stare flicked over to the girl and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't even bother Black, I know you do the whole womanizing thing, 'stay clear of that man he's a player', yada, yada, yada" she stopped him before he'd even began. Sirius had finished taking in the situation by then and had raised his eyebrows at Snape.

"Hold on, don't tell me that _you_ brought home a gorgeous woman? _Snivelus_ managed to pull a hot piece of ass?" Sirius asked, looking dumbfounded.

"Hey! Dude, yeah over here. If you don't shut up, hot piece of ass's fist is going to collide with your face" the girl said, her eyes darkening slightly and Sirius barked out a laugh.

"I like this girl, she's got FIRE! What's you're name sweety?" he asked, a grin on his face. Hermione was now glaring at Sirius but he carried on being bastard as usual.

"First name fuck" she said, a sarcastic smile on her face. Sirius was about to remark when she said "Second name off" she answered.

"Go on then Sev, go get your shit. I'll wait here. Hurry up as well, this guy's boring me" she sighed, shifting her weight onto one hip as she noticed Hermione.

"Hi! I don't think we've officially met" Mila said, leaning forward and shaking Hermione's hand from where she was sat in the armchair.

"Hermione Granger" she said politely and the girl nodded an interested look on her face.

"Mila McLaggen but I hate Mila so just call me Mi" she informed. Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly at her last name "I know you, you're Cor's cousin. He talked about you. He was moaning about how you get loads of attention cos you're this badass sexy deal that everyone loves" Hermione said.

Mila laughed and Hermione smiled, she couldn't help it, the girl's confidence was radiant and infectious. "Cor's my dad's little prince. I swear, if my dad could swap us over, he would do it in a heartbeat. Hey, you're dating Draco Malfoy right? Girl, you are one lucky bitch" Mila said and Hermione could not believe how happy this girl was, she was like the most smiley person she'd ever met.

"Tell that to him. We argue so much, he's lucky he's still got his balls" Hermione said back and Mila nodded. "I know what you mean; I just got out of this relationship where this guy would argue at me for everything. But you guys are like in love right? I mean, you're like best friends as well aren't you?" Mila asked and just as Hermione opened her mouth to answer, Snape walked back into the room and gestured for Mi to follow him to the fireplace.

"Have fun sexy" Sirius winked at her. Mila smiled sweetly and flipped him the finger before she vanished holding Severus's hand yet again.

"That was so bad Sirius. What have I told you about picking on Snape? It's not fair!" she scolded and he sighed, turned on his heel and left her alone again.

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><p>"Alright?" Ron asked awkwardly, his hands in his pockets, a small, nervous smile on his face. Hermione could see even now how she'd originally fallen in love with the boy. He was cute and good looking and very kind hearted deep down even if he was stubborn and unreasonable.<p>

"Yeah" she answered. Again, she remembered back to how she'd originally fallen for him, he made her feel all young and innocent. He made her giggle like a little school girl and she had actually missed out on this during her childhood which had made her want to hold onto him even more.

"So…" he said with a shaky breath and she smiled at him softly, motioning for him to sit down. "Look, things aren't supposed to be like this Ron. I need you in my life and you don't ever have to like Draco, I've never asked you to. I just want you to accept that I'm with him" she said carefully. She really was tired with being at loggerheads with him over the same thing all the time.

"Do you love him?" Ron asked quickly, taking her by surprise. She hadn't even thought properly about this herself let alone actually telling anyone. Ron was supposed to be one of her best friends though.

"Excuse me?" she said, taken aback. He rolled his eyes "It's a simple question Hermione, do you love him?"

"I don't know Ron. I care about him, he's one of the most important people in my life and I need him there to be honest. I need you as well though. We went through so much together and I'm in too much of a vulnerable situation to be without you right now" she said, surprised to find herself dry eyed as she was crying at tiny things lately.

Draco was being unnaturally patient with her actually and refused to mollycoddle her. They made sure the aspects of their friendship didn't leave their relationship as well. Very often they just went out, had fun and got drunk. So what if they were grown ups now? So what if they worked a business together and shipped millions of galleons over to different accounts every other month? So what if they attended formal lunches and made small talk with stuck up snobs? So what if both had their own separate flats now? So what if everyone expected them to be all mature and boring.

And Hermione had lied when she'd told Ron she wasn't sure how she was feeling about Draco. She was well aware that she was falling in love with him. She wasn't quite totally there yet but a few more months would definitely do the trick. They'd been together for almost five months now and their 'thing' was constantly being plastered all over the tabloids. Hermione was annoyed to find that the wizarding press were almost as bad as the muggles for twisting things. She was a celebrity and often saw her face on the front of the prophet.

"I… I… it's hard to explain how my mind is dealing with this. I keep changing my thoughts on the subject. One minute I want to kill him for even touching you, the next I want to thank him for making you into this happy, smiling, sexy little badass witch reeking with confidence and I know he'd be better for you than me. I… just don't trust him Mione" Ron said slowly. He reached forward and grabbed her hand, taking it in his and moving closer to her.

"Something I've learned though is that I love you a lot. I don't even know if I'm _in_ love with you anymore but I do love you… and that means I can't be selfish with you" he sighed. She went to say something but one of his fingers went up to her lips to shush her.

"This means that if you want to be with Draco then I trust you. I hate it, I really do but I'm so fucking exhausted with fighting you and all I really want is for you to be happy… and for you to reassure me that the old Hermione isn't completely gone" he said, again. He looked into her eyes with a sad half smile.

After a few seconds, she nodded and he took his finger away from her mouth. She squeezed his hand before she moved forward and hugged him tightly. She closed her eyes and revelled in the feeling of being back in his arms.

She had missed his big bear hugs and all his muscles caging her into his extreme warmth enveloping her in a feeling of safeness.

It was entirely platonic now of course and she knew she wouldn't ever feel romantically for him again. Draco's hugs were the ones that could make her feel like the world wouldn't be able to touch her, like she was one hundred feet off the ground and he would kill anything that would try to harm her but Ron was one of her best friends and she needed this to keep her going properly.

"Thank you" she whispered into his shoulder and he simply grunted in response and hugged her tighter.

* * *

><p>"Snape? Are you always so prude?" Mila asked as they sat on a platform covered in tables and chairs inside a classy little bar somewhere in Devon; she couldn't really remember what Sev had actually called it. She was sipping a pint of lager between light conversations with her newfound, extremely odd friend.<p>

She didn't understand how people could dislike this man so much. She knew he was a dick and he could sulk for England and he had a wicked temper. She was also perfectly aware that he was dangerous and she could be dead within a split second if she dug too deep into his hard exterior but he was sweet, funny and could actually be rather sexy when he smirked with amusement. He wasn't conventionally good looking though.

His face was pale and his eyes were dark, deep and black with lines around them marking his wisdom and held a picture of all the things he'd seen. He had a strong, square jaw line and a vein that pulsed in his temple that would tell her when he was angry. There were a couple of tiny scars dotted up his cheekbones and over his eyebrows and she knew he was most likely covered in scars over his torso and legs. His lips were thinish and equally pale but looked soft and they were the only things that didn't look battle damaged.

He had a thick, elegant neck where a single snake bite could be seen, paler than anything else on his body and she could tell that he was defensive over it as he flinched every time someone went near it, he probably had some kind of fear of people touching it.

He actually held a well built form. He was thin, too thin actually but lean, clear muscles could be seen under the occasional t-shirts he wore and his step was graceful and confident. The underlining pain of the horrific life he'd lived was very obvious on his face and she knew he'd done some equally horrific things to contribute to the death of Voldemort. She didn't dwell on it though and most certainly would not hold any of it against him. She had guessed that he'd been in love before as well but did not push him on it as she did not want to drag up a load of complicated shit for him that she was sure he wanted to leave in the past.

She looked at life in a most unusual way and was a most unusual person. She was very, very lax in the strict routine area and would not be forced into anything she didn't want to do under any circumstances. She was brave when it was required but was not without fear as she believed that to be without fright was to be inhumane. She had strong morals and stuck up for what she trusted to be right.

There were things that she denied, things that had happened to her that she refused point blank to even think about. She could be very cold hearted when she was having a bad day and could very well make anyone she wanted hate her.

"I am not prude thank you very much!" He snapped but she saw the humour in his black eyes and shook her head at him "Yes you are! You wouldn't recognise a sexual comment if it walked up to you and flicked your dick" she chuckled and he raised both his eyebrows "I don't get sexual comments" he countered.

She took a swig of her lager and grinned "alright then, who was your first?" she asked. He sighed for some reason and looked regretful. "I don't actually remember her name, I only knew her from my history of magic class and we were fifteen. It was a shame actually, maybe something could have come of it and I wouldn't have… well, it could have been a little more memorable anyway."

"Who was yours?" he asked.

"Equally unpleasant… I don't talk about it… let's just say I was very naive and he wasn't… well…"

"Do you want to go in a minute?" he saved her from having to answer and she looked immediately grateful for it as she nodded eagerly.

"Yeah I'm tired and it's getting late. What time is it?" she asked him and he checked his watch that was surprisingly muggle. His eyes widened and he looked up at her.

"It's half past midnight" he informed and she gasped slightly.

"Merlin have we been talking for that long?" she exclaimed and he nodded curtly.

"But there's no way my lodger's going to let me into the flat. She's an old woman you see and she's told me that if I'm not back by curfew, she's not letting me in" Mila said, a worried look taking on her facial features.

"So book into a hotel or something" Snape offered but she shook her head. "I just used the last of the money I brought out with me on the last round" she dismissed and he frowned again. After a few seconds consideration, he sighed in irritation and pushed his hair back from his face slightly.

"I have a guest room, you can stay there" he said stonily just as the waitress come over to take the bill. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a nuisance" Mila said, eying the waitress in a weird way that Snape could not identify as he handed over some muggle five pound notes.

"It's a little late for that Mi, just try not to break anything" he said silkily, the teasing tone returning to his soft yet harsh voice. She grinned evilly "Sure whatever, I won't break anything" she shrugged sarcastically and he rolled his eyes.

"Come on then you infuriating woman, let's move" he said, standing up to help her up but finding himself a little wobbly with his stepping. He gripped hold of the table to steady himself and then reached out a hand for her to take. She took it and as she stood up, she tripped over her own feet and into his chest, collapsing into a fit of giggles "I think I'm a little more drunk than I thought" she laughed and he rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the plush feel of her petite body pressed against his as she clutched his t-shirt for support as she regained her composure.

They exited the pub, neither really walking in a straight line as they strolled drunkenly along the pavement marking the coastline. He heard her let out a dreamy sigh as her beautiful green eyes crawled softly along the glistening water reflecting dim rays of light from the moon.

"It's pretty here, how come I've never been here before?" she asked the rhetorical question, accepting his jacket being put over her shivering, bare shoulders. She wrapped her tanned arms around his bicep and leaned her head on his broad, thin shoulder as they stumbled softly and she yawned.

"Plymouth? It's the home of muggle council estates and chavs! But I guess it has a… united community. That's putting it lightly. You want to see some of the fights the different neighbourhoods have, hammers and porcelain sinks being thrown. Quite amusing actually" he mused, his speech slightly slurred but otherwise still deep and silky in a strangely endearing way.

She chuckled "But this is lovely, this coastal line with the harbours and the tiny beaches and the water and the posh little restaurants and bars. I'd love to live on a hill overlooking all of this" she breathed, a dazed look in her eyes that he put half down to alcohol and the other half down to wonder.

"When did you come down to England then? I mean your accent is still really strong" he said with his own yawn.

"I came to live in the manor in Scotland when I was six but I still go back every year to see my friends. There was this one girl I knew called Lisa; she was so pretty you know; body of Megan Fox, face of Hermione Granger but with a tan. She moved over to this ghetto town when her mum went bankrupt and I told everyone that she was on drugs but no one would listen to me. She died a year later, she OD'd. The police found her lied across a dirty beach covered in her own vomit. I don't go back to see anyone associated with her now so I don't go up as much as I used to. I've got my own friends here anyway" she said.

"She was a muggle then?" he asked as they got to the top of a hill. She pulled his jacket around her tighter and nodded against him. "She was. I knew her all my life. Anyway, onto less depressing subjects, how come you don't have any kids?".

She felt him stiffen at this question but did not regret asking it, it had been bugging her for ages.

"I didn't wish to have children… ever. I'm not able to produce offspring anyway" he answered slowly. She nodded in understanding, looking up at him "I don't want kids either. I'm shit with them, they just drive me up the wall and I've never been the maternal type. My mum can't understand it though but I'm not the kind of woman to be making tea and working for stuck up, alcoholic old men at the ministry trying to convince themselves that they're respectable" she said and he laughed.

It was a beautiful, masculine sound and it made her normally carefree heart swell with emotion. But she felt her eyes drooping all too soon and she knew it wouldn't go unnoticed by him.

"Come on then, lets go" he said in an unusually gentle voice and before she could protest, he'd taken hold of her hand and apparated them away.


	17. Chapter 17

HEY!

Long time no update right? So sorry about that but I have two other stories on the go and I'm on work experience. I'll try and update fortnightly now okay? :)

Not many reviews for the last chapter, I hope I'm not messing up on you guys or anything, I try to put as much as I can into every chapter and I know my writing isn't that good sometimes but it's not shit _all _the time ;).

Pure Dramione in this chapter because we all love a little mild smut now and again... not too much though; they're still Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Just thought we needed a better insight as to how their relationship has changed since they left Hogwarts, still keeping the war thing in the background. I just think that kind of thing stays with people their whole lives, even when it's over.

I GOT INTO POTTERMORE! YAYA! It keeps crashing though and the next book isn't going to be up until January! In the words of Pheobe "WHAT IS UP WITH THE UNIVERSE?" I'm in hufflepuff though, which was a surprise. So I can stop waiting for that email and go back to checking my inbox everyday for a Bex-chan update :)

Enjoy.

Dee xxxx

P.S Review! Me love you forever!

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><p>"You are joking right? Harrison please tell me that you're joking?" Hermione said, her voice full of warning and worry as she rounded on her assistant, brandishing her mobile phone in her hand dangerously as the poor young man looked terrified and backed away slightly.<p>

"I'm sorry Miss Granger, I couldn't stop it! The transfer had already gone out to the suppliers when they disappeared. I can't find them anywhere; their phones are dead, there isn't anyone in any of the offices anywhere and their websites been deleted. I even sent an Auror round there, it's completely deserted… they conned us which means we're going to have to get hold of all the orders and tell them that it'll be at least a week before they get anything from us. We can't make the cell phones without the materials and we had at least a hundred thousand galleons being spent on the computer parts. We're screwed" the assistant said quickly as though he was trying to rip off a plaster.

"Shit shit shit shit shit. Alright… okay… Call Draco, tell him everything and tell him to come back from Egypt right now. I'm going to get on the phone to some contacts and I'll see how much I've got in my account right now. Just don't make anymore deals until I tell you to" she said urgently, her heart thudding erratically beneath her chest. There was a ridiculous demand for these gadgets now things had gotten on their feet and they had to keep a constant flow on things because their products went out to businesses as well as people. They were a franchise and a very rich, famous one at that. The problem was, it was very hard work and to make any living at all, they had to keep things going all the time or they'd rapidly loose customers and quickly fall on their asses.

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><p>Her phone rang just as she was about to push open the door to her flat and she squashed it to her ear, holding hit between her cheek and her shoulder as she picked up her shopping bags and nudged the door open with her hip.<p>

"Granger, what the fuck is going on? Harrison said our new suppliers dropped off the map; what happened?" he demanded, sounding angry. She sighed stressfully and held the phone to her ear properly, setting her bags down on her large kitchen counters.

"I don't know what happened Dray. I'm in touch with some new suppliers who know of our situation and have agreed to give us an identical deal half price and I managed to get most of it out of my own bank account. I'm dealing with all the loose ends right now, the business is fine but it's going to be at least three weeks before I'm able to stop living off cheese and bread" she said in as much of a soothing voice as she could muster. She heard him cursing on the other end of the phone and rolled her eyes.

"This isn't even your company and you're emptying your bank to keep it on it's feet you infuriating woman! Darn it Hermione! I'm coming back tomorrow and I'm putting the money back in your account from mine and don't even think about arguing with me" he ranted furiously. She growled but didn't reply.

"I'm booking an apparition point in Nairobi; I'll be back about four in the morning. Look, I'm going to have to go, the Egyptians are getting suspicious and we need to be prepared for whatever Skeeter throws out tomorrow" he said in resigned anger.

She sighed. She was so tired, her brain was throbbing dangerously and she knew she'd pass out if she didn't sleep soon; she'd been on her feet for seventeen hours straight.

"Draco…" Hermione said softly and she could practically hear him rolling his eyes on the other side of the phone.

"What now Granger?" he said irritably and she grinned to herself.

"I love you" she said and his breath hitched on the other side of the phone. There was a silence for about a minute before she heard him inhale a sharp batch of air.

"love you too" he said curtly and pressed the red button.

She fell asleep that night with the silliest grin on her face.

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><p>Hermione awoke to the other side of her bed sinking and a familiar feeling of warmth spread through her at his presence as it always did after he'd been away. It was weird really and a little overwhelming how she'd gone from hating his guts, to falling head over heals in love with him in the space of seven months.<p>

"And why are you in my flat at four o'clock in the morning?" she asked, not moving from her previous position on the bed with her back to him.

Immediately, his arms were around her waist, his body spooning into her, his head burying in her hair. She closed her eyes, revelling in the much missed feeling of his skin against hers.

"Shut up" he mumbled and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder a few millimetres left of her nightdress strap. She chuckled, her eyes still closed from her sleep but her body all of a sudden awake and completely content. She didn't think she'd be able to move from that position even if she really wanted to, she was too caught up in the hazy warmth of his firm chest pressing against her back and his legs wrapping snugly around her own.

"I missed you" she sighed and she could feel him smirking against the spot where he'd kissed her.

"I'm wonderful like that Granger" he said quietly and she smiled in amusement, turning her head to press a small peck on his cheek, letting her lips linger on the soft skin for a minute or so, memorising the feel of his breath fanning across her collar bone and shoulders, cooling her bed heated body. She inhaled the lingering smell of his cologne and allowed his slow, steady breathing rhythm to lull her back into a doze between reality and the idealism of her dreams; bloody hell she loved this infuriating man.

"Goodnight Granger" he whispered softly in her ear and she couldn't bring her relaxed vocal cords to work properly so she kissed his cheek again and snuggled her face into her pillow as his arms tightened comfortably around her.

"Goodnight Draco"

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><p>"Mr Malfoy, do you wish to comment on the enormity of the amount of money lost to the company"<p>

"No I don't and neither does anyone else working for me and my mother if they know what's good for them. Kindly move so I can get back to providing the equipment that helps you report on my social life constantly Rita" he said angrily and she huffed, stepping sideways and allowing him to walk away, a look of disdain on her face.

"That wasn't very nice" Hermione's voice said as she joined him in mid step, headpiece in place coming over her ear and the mic attached coming around to her mouth.

"Rita Skeeter doesn't deserve 'nice'" he retorted moodily and she chuckled "shh! Her spies are everywhere" she whispered dramatically and smirked when his lips twitched in amusement.

"We're in the safety zone now though right?" she asked and he nodded briefly, taking her waist and steering her around the corner up to their office.

"How did she even get into reception anyway? Watson, fire someone for letting Skeeter in" Draco snapped sideways as they reached their goal. Hermione shook her head at Watson and he nodded, taking her order to ignore Malfoy's as she disappeared after him.

Malfoy moved around his desk without sitting down and grabbed a load of papers scattered about on the wood, flicking them back down when they didn't contain the information he seemed to be looking for.

"We're going out tonight right? I want to hear all about your trip, I've been to Africa before but I've never been to Egypt" she said, sitting calmly down at her own desk and clicking one of the buttons on her mic and waiting for her call to get picked up as she shuffled through her own paperwork, looking through her schedule for the day.

"There isn't much to hear, I fucked several belly dancers, got drunk a lot and fucked some more dancers" he shrugged sarcastically and she narrowed her eyes at him, poking her tongue out before shaking her head at some of the letters she'd received in response to their recent technical glitch.

"Hello, yes I'd like to just confirm with Mr Landycop that the order for the computers is still going through because we have them in stock and they're ready to be wrapped and apparated over" she said in a firm, feminine, professional voice that differed only slightly to her normal one.

"Landycop's a dick; he's only buying this order because he wants to get in your knicke-"

"Thank you, yes of course. You tell Mr Landycop to have a wonderful week in Turkey. Thanks" she said and pressed one of the buttons again to hang up the call.

"So what? That was the original reason you hired me, I'm good with the punters" she said and picked up a posh pen, scribbling her signature on one of the forms left by their secretary.

"I didn't hire you because you'd have men leering all over you twenty four seven and buying ridiculously large amounts of things they don't need from us because they think there's the slightest chance you'd sleep with them. All a bunch of over confident basta-"

"Your mother just arrived" Hermione cut him off in mid rant, a small smile on her face; he was really quite adorable when he was being jealous. Sure enough, Narcissa poked her beautiful head around the door and smiled at Hermione "everything alright dears?" she asked and Hermione nodded, gesturing for her to come in.

"I can't make the Bristol conference tonight boss; you'll have to go up yourself. The Russians are moaning again and they're more pissed off with Draco so I think it needs a woman's touch" she said, still not taking her eyes off her paperwork and Malfoy finally sat in his chair and was looking at his mother with a little bit of a protective expression on his face.

"Granger can it not be left until tomorrow? I'll ring Bogdan tonight and smooth things over and I'll go to the conference tomorrow morning" he said impatiently and she shook her head. "We've already moved the press around three times, the date's set and it's happening today. You're mother can handle herself Draco" Hermione said in a defensive voice and he shot her a glare before looking unsurely back at Narcissa.

"Are you sure Mother?" he asked sternly and she rolled her eyes, straightening her high wasted pencil skirt and brushed down her deep green blazer before nodding once and smiling at her son.

"I'm a Malfoy, the men will be falling at my feet and I'll deny them as I always have done and somehow still manage to pull off a decent deal… it'll be just like old times" she smiled sarcastically and Draco growled, shooing his mother out of the office.

"Remind me of why I frequently allow you two women to overrule me?" he grumbled angrily and Hermione chuckled, typing a small email on her computer and pressing send before looking at him still looking at last weeks takings.

"Because you love us" she said in a purposefully dreamy voice and he grimaced but she could see the small twinkle in his eyes giving him away as usual.

"I'm still trying to work out why, I hate you at least once a day" he retorted. She shook her head "no you don't, you haven't hated me for at least nine months… maybe even years actually" she said and he remained silent for a few minutes before slapping the newly organised financial documents down on his desk and looking up at her, impressed.

"Not bad Granger, we got three extra thousand in profit this month, I'm starting to think hiring you wasn't such a bad thing after all" he said and she smirked at him.

"Careful Slytherin, that was nearly a compliment"

"No it wasn't, you're just bigheaded"

"Touché"

* * *

><p>They were sat in a charming little restaurant in Rome. The evening sun seeped gently through the windows and illuminated the room in all the right places. Hermione was in a little red dress with her hair pulled up into a loose style held up by barely visible black pins, dark brunette curls falling softly around her face. One of her blood red heels were off and her foot was stroking the bottom of Draco's leg affectionately as they sipped two glasses of ice cold martini lemonade.<p>

He was in a black tailored shirt and dark blue jeans and black shoes, his hair in its usual messy style, the slight relaxation from the first few glasses of alcohol in his face making him look slightly happier and less intense than usual.

"Really, its sick the amount of grown men you see staring at these six year old girls over there it's unbelievable. Course, I spent most of my time in Nada's office. Honestly, the guys a stubborn bastard and apparently its not safe over there at the moment, something about that Gadaffi dude moving his regime into Egypt do they honestly think we wont be able to kill them all. It would just take a quick Avada to get rid of all this hype the muggle terrorist's cause. 9/11 could have been prevented if Fudge had have brought his head out his arse for a few seconds and realized that two of his closest executives were working for a corrupt government… what?" he asked as she looked at him with a slightly dazed expression.

"Nothing" she shrugged softly and he frowned at her "Granger I know you, something's on your mind" he pushed and she sighed in defeat, considering him for a moment before taking a sip of her drink and looking at him again.

"I messed up. You left me alone for five minutes, you trusted me to keep things moving and I royally fucked up" she groaned in an upset voice. So she was blaming herself. Stupid fucking Gryffindors, getting all worked up about things that weren't their fault.

He studied her for a few minutes, his eyes raking over her soft features, over her innocent lips painted in a blood red lip tint, her eyelashes, her cheeks, everything and then he looked her in the eyes. He swallowed, looking as though he was struggling with something for a second before he sighed and leaned forward, taking her hands across the table. He pulled her knuckles up to his mouth and kissed them before lowering them back onto the polished wood but not letting go of them.

"Granger, we're hardly the most conventional people. But I'm not with you because I think I can make you this perfect little housewife who can keep everything running when I go away for long business trips. I… I love you for who you are and if that means that you're going to blunder now and again, then so be it. You might be a royal fuck up sometimes, but you're my royal fuck up and that's the way I always want it to be. I don't want you to change and I trust you. Heaven knows I messed up way more times than you so please just… stop… stop worrying about it and… drink your bloody wine you infuriating woman" he cursed and she laughed at him towards the end, a beautifully fond smile playing at the corners of her lips and she nodded, saluting him and downing the rest of her martini in one before calling the waiter for next orders.

"Come on, let's get trashed" she said and grinned evilly up at the bar boy.

"What's your name honey?" she asked him.

"Ford Miss Granger, Timothy Ford"

"Well then Mr Ford, three shots of tequila and two vodka cokes when you're ready, Mr Malfoy's buying considering I have nothing in my bank account" she said. Malfoy rolled his eyes regally "bullshit, I put all the money back in yesterday… but the lady wants to get trashed so put the bill in my name" he said, raising his eyebrows at her suddenly heightened spirits and he strongly suspected it had something to do with a certain four letter word… dumb female war hero's and their overdeveloped sentiments.

* * *

><p>They stumbled along a river side in the Italian city of Rome, moon shining down on them, illuminating their faces beautifully. Draco had loosened his tie and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and his jacket was now hanging on Hermione's shoulders. Her hair was coming out now and soft, natural curls dripped from the clasps of the grips, creating a luscious waterfall affect down her back. She'd removed her blood red stiletto heels and they were now hanging on the fingers of her left hand as the other was around Draco's waist, his arm draped loosely over her shoulders.<p>

She had a lazy, content, drunk smile on her lips and he was simply looking out at the boats sailing through the centre of the city thoughtfully whilst subconsciously pulling her warmth closer to him.

"Where do you think you'd be right now if you'd have married Weasley?" he asked and she turned her head to look at him, he was still gazing away from her. "At home cooking him his evening meal while he sat on the sofa with a Butterbeer, moaning about the untidiness of the house we would be living in and how shit his day at work was" she replied truthfully, Ron always wanted someone that would do everything for him, much like his mother.

"And I would have killed you for it" he said with a smirk. She nudged him sideways playfully and he mock scowled at her.

"What makes you think you could take me on, Slytherin?" she asked crookedly and he grinned ahead of him, pulling the side of her head towards his lips and planting a rough kiss on her temple. "Oh I don't think, I know" he said, nibbling the top of her ear and making her shiver involuntarily. She smiled at the action and wrapped both her arms around his middle, leaning sideways into him as his arm that hung around her shoulders tightened slightly.

"I'm happy that I didn't stay with him, I would have broken up with him after a year anyway before I'd be required to get pregnant. Kingsley's on about bringing in a marriage law in the next few years that involves bearing children in the first two years of the commitment" she said reflectively. He frowned at her as they walked.

"What happens if you don't get pregnant in the first two years of the marriage?" he asked and she sighed "three years in Azkaban. Failure to comply with the law after release will result in another four year sentence at which point the effects of the dementors will have deemed the person in question completely infertile" she answered sadly.

"And if this law does pass through in the next few years?" he asked quietly but confidently and she shrugged against him. "I guess we'll just have to get married" she said and his breath hitched slightly. For his sake, she pretended not to notice his discomfort and simply smiled fondly to herself, he was stoic being a Malfoy and she loved him for it.

"What makes you think we'll still be together in three years?" he asked again and she rolled her eyes, looking at him properly and placing a peck on his cheek. "You drive me up the wall Dray, sometimes I could throttle you but that doesn't make me love you any less. I'm happy and I hope you are too so I don't think, I know. I know we'll be together in three years time. Whatever happens after that is just another mystery" she said in a level voice, void of any of the soppy emotion she knew he despised when he asked her personal questions about their relationship.

"I am happy" he said. She leaned her head into the crook of his neck and nodded against him.

"I know"


	18. Chapter 18

HEY!

Sorry for the wait but I'm quite busy with coursework and revision now my new term's started and I have to re-take my maths foundation exam in November :/

So a few different scenes in this chapter and I've only got a few more chapters to write before it's finished I think so probably about a month left of this story.

And I know I'm going to get inbox's shouting at me for the cliffhanger but I don't care :L

Hope you enjoy, REVIEW!

Dee xxxx

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><p>"Cos when I look in the mirror, I don't even recognise myself. I've got the heart of a winner, but looking back at me is someone else. No regrets, no regrets, no point in crying over yesterday. No regrets, no regrets, cos we aint even seen the best of days"<p>

* * *

><p>Ron sat in the Leaky Cauldron sipping his tea slowly. He stared ahead, completely lost in a train of thought as he went over just what he'd allowed to happen to his life. It was getting better but nothing would haunt him more than the look on Hermione's face when he'd hurt her so heartlessly. She'd forgiven him now of course, and he was grateful for it even if he didn't believe he deserved any of her love; it'd taken him seven months to see that as well.<p>

He was beginning to see the true magnitude of what he'd done now. She had been grieving for goodness sake! And not just for one parent, but both of them. He couldn't even think about what he'd have done if it'd been the other way around; his parents were the most important figures in his life and if they'd died and then he'd learned that Hermione had cheated on him, he probably would have actually killed her.

He loved her, in what way had always been unclear to him and probably always would be but he knew he'd love her until the day he died. And now he'd let himself be weakened again, let himself be taken advantage of and now he was sat in a pub waiting for _her_.

"You came" a voice breathed from above him and he looked up into her purple eyes with a narrow, bitter stare and shrugged "I agreed to listen, not that I would do anything about what you're saying" he said and gestured for her to sit down in the booth with him.

"I wanted to see you-"

"Skip it and just get on with grovelling so I can leave and then I never have to see you again" he said in a cold voice that made tears well up in her eyes.

"I… I think… I think I owe you… I owe you an explanation" she struggled to speak as she tried to breath through the sobs threatening to claw up her vocal cords.

"You owe me everything Lavender. I'm the only guy who ever respected you…"

"I know, I do know that and it's why I hate myself so much. The thing is…I just… I… I saw you looking… looking at… _her_. You were in love with her still. I was pathetic; I started telling myself that I had more respect for myself than to get involved with someone whose heart belonged to someone else when I really didn't respect myself at all. I… I just… oh for god sake, this shouldn't be so hard to say. I think… I guess… I know… what I'm trying to say is… I… I love you" she finished, tears rolling down her face rapidly into her bouncy blonde curls, her golden brown eyes swimming heartbreakingly with sorrow and self disgust. She looked different somehow, like she was uncomfortable in her own skin. She kept scratching at her wrist and shifting around, cringing every time she felt her body move.

He could feel his self resolve dissolving; his stubbornness ebbed away with every one of those tears as they always had done when she'd cried. The stupid blonde bimbo had some kind of hold over him, he'd never been able to resist her whether she was crying, giggling or glaring; whatever they were arguing about always seemed to jump to the back of his mind when she was sad. She really did look sorry and very, very ill. She'd lost a frightening amount of weight and there were sunken dark lines under her eyes and red marks around them where she'd obviously been crying a lot lately.

"Lav, why? Why did you have to sleep with McLaggen? You knew he'd do this to you. Look, oh for fuck sake stop crying. OI! WAITER! SANDWICH AND A BUTTERBEER PLEASE? Hush up for a second and let me talk" he instructed and she immediately swallowed and coughed as she tried to get her breath back and stop sobbing.

"I love Hermione Granger, always have and always will. I'm not _in_ love with her anymore though… at least I don't think I am. But it doesn't matter. I wasn't with you because I wanted to get over her or because I wanted an easy fuck or to make Hermione jealous; I was with you because I cared about you, because I liked your smile and your annoyingly cute little habits and the way that you're secretly clever, because… I kind of love you too in a strange, warped, adoring way. But you can't keep doing this, you have to stop thinking that people don't like you for who you are and not just your appearance. Stop being insecure and just believe that it's me… I'm right here and I love you. I'm not going anywhere unless you force me to so just shut up and… eat" he pointed to the plate the waiter had put in front of her whilst he'd been talking but he wasn't really paying attention to it. She was looking at him intensely, a frown furrowing her brow. After a few seconds of her stare, her lips slowly turned up in the most breathtaking half smile he'd ever seen and he realized at that moment, he most definitely wasn't in love with Hermione anymore, this insecure, annoying, bitchy, intelligent, kind, cute young beauty was who he loved and the emotion he felt his heart swelling with at that point in time made his previous love for his best friend feel like a childish crush.

* * *

><p>Hermione was sorting through paperwork in her flat when she felt two warm arms encircle her waist from behind and a smile instantly broke out on her face. She turned her head to press a kiss to his cheek before she turned back to the paper and signed the dotted line at the bottom. She twirled slowly in his grasp to face him, her arms going up around his neck, her buttocks leaning against the glass surface she'd been working on.<p>

"Hey" she said and he rolled his eyes at her cheery voice, offering her a tiny smirk in reply before kissing her once, pulling away and looking at her nonchalantly.

"You missed me" she accused, her smile turning into a teasing smirk as he scowled at her.

"I don't 'miss' people Granger, I just fuck them" he said and the only warning she had was a cheeky grin before he hoisted her over his shoulder and began walking in the direction of the bedroom with her giggling and shouting at him, kicking him hard in a futile attempt to get him to let go of her.

"You can't just grab me, I've still got work to do!" she yelled, laughing when he threw her down on the bed and crawled on top of her, pressing tiny kisses all over her face and neck. She caught his lips however and sighed into it contentedly, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck again, her knees going up on either side of him as she kissed him passionately, a familiar heat rising in the pit of her tummy like it always did when they were together like this.

"You missed me" she accused again, chuckling when he bit down on her bottom lip in reply as she arched into him.

"Work!" she exclaimed in annoyance as he nibbled at her pulse point, his hands running up and down her legs tantalisingly, stroking over her knees through her tight jeans.

"Tomorrow" he said sharply and she surrendered when he hit a sensitive spot behind her ear and her legs wrapped around his jean clad waist, work was completely forgotten as usual.

* * *

><p>"You've got to stop cheating!" she said in annoyance, hitting his chest lightly as he chuckled low in his throat in response. "You love it Granger. I was thinking, do you want to go to Greece in a few weeks. I'll get Harrison handling everything and you can call your Weasley girlfriend to help him" he said, subconsciously playing with a lock of her hair.<p>

"Can we afford another hiccup though? What if something goes wrong?" she said, frowning at him. "What's the point in being the richest young heir in Britain if I don't get to spoil my girlfriend now and again? Besides, I wanted to do something over there and I need you to help me out with it. Also, we both deserve a break, we work like house elves sometimes Granger, it's a wonder we haven't dropped on our feet yet" he replied sarcastically and she sighed but nodded against his bare chest anyway.

"I think I'd like that and of course now I'm all intrigued about what you need to do in Greece, we don't have any customers over there I don't think" she said and he grinned, placing a rough kiss on her head and closing his eyes in comfort of her body warmth against his. He knew how lucky he was of course; she was quite the head turner and one of the most incredible people he'd ever met. Oh yes, he was extremely lucky that she'd even forgiven him in the first place and he smiled inwardly at the memory of that night down by the lake when she'd accepted his apology. His reminiscing was interrupted however when Weasley's patronus came bursting into the room and he sat up angrily, growling at the silver bulldog.

"Draco stop it, its fine" she said, also sitting up and wrapping the quilt a little more firmly around her.

"No it's not! We don't need this at three in the morning!" he snapped and she rolled her eyes, nodding at the dog.

"I want to speak with you. I'm back with Lavender. Owl me when it's a good time" Ron's deep voice said and she glared at the animal as it disappeared.

"What the fuck does he think he's doing? She's going to cheat on him again and me and Harry are going to be left to pick up the pieces" she growled. Draco frowned at her "he doesn't even like her that much does he?" Draco asked and she shook her head, pushing her hair out of her face as they relaxed back into their previous position tangled together between the bed sheets.

"He always had a bit of a soft spot for her, even when he was claiming to be in love with me. If she breaks his heart again, I swear I'll rip her eyes out" she said viciously and Draco laughed "It's not funny!" she exclaimed and he shook his head with a grin "you're just funny when you're angry. I don't know why, everyone else is terrified of your temper" he said. She narrowed her eyes at him "I could take you on Slytherin" she said, playfulness creeping back into her soft voice as a smile twitched at the corners of her lips.

"Pfft, you couldn't hurt me if I begged you to" he said with a grin. "Is that a challenge?" she asked, rolling into a straddle position on top of him, her tiny hands wrapping around his wrists and softly pinning them above his head. He smirked evilly at her, overpowering her and rolling her over, his hands on the pillow either side of her head.

"Of course it is" he said and she reached up to capture his lips, biting down on his bottom one and smiling as his breathing hitched.

"Challenge accepted"

* * *

><p>"FINE! Fine, but I hope she knows I'll break her pretty little legs if she hurts you again" Hermione said in an irritable voice as Ron grinned at her.<p>

"Oh don't worry, she knows. Harry seemed to give her a similar warning, something about unleashing your rage on her if she pulls another stunt ever again" he replied and she dropped her jaw in mock offence "I'm not that bad" she said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Do you not remember third year? I'm surprised Malfoy was able to fix his nose, you've got a mean right hook" he remarked and she glared at him. "Which he frequently gets close to experiencing again along with both you and Harry" she said. He rolled his eyes "Harry's the angel. You love him too much to even lay a finger on him" he said with an amused smirk.

"Harry most certainly is not an angel, trust me. Just ask your sister he's worse than you sometimes. And Malfoy is just…"

"Malfoy?"

"Well yeah" she grinned fondly and he smiled softly at her.

"I'm happy for you, you know? I'm glad you're in love like this, I love seeing that smile of yours. Malfoy knows he's lucky right? He should be grateful you even gave him the time of day" he said, the slight edge of bitterness in his voice that would always be there when they were conversing about her boyfriend.

"He knows" she said seriously and he nodded.

"As long as he's treating you right" he said and she nodded "it's far from being perfect but I never wanted perfect, I'm not that kind of person" she shrugged and he nodded again.

"Not even Ginny and Harry are perfect, have you seen them arguing? Bloody hell, you do not want to hear them laying into each other. It's like Voldemort and Dumbledore only with love and not absolute hatred" Ron grinned thoughtfully.

"I have to be off for the minute, I'm sorry but we're having a bit of trouble with the Russians at the moment, they're still not co-operating! I'll give you a call when I get a chance though okay?" she said, downing the rest of her drink and stepping away from the table.

"Blimey, I didn't even realize what you were wearing. You've changed so much Mione!" he said in surprise, looking her up and down before standing with her and drawing her in for a tight hug.

"For the better I hope" she replied against his neck and he nodded, pulling away and tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

"You're amazing and you always will be, no matter how you change because you're Hermione Granger. Of course it's for the better dumbass, have you seen how many men are staring at you right now?" he asked and she took a quick glance around the pub and looked back at him, grimacing.

"Uggh, no matter how many times a day I have to deal with pervy old businessmen, I will always get freaked out… don't tell Malfoy that though, he'll have me pulled out of public relations straight away, he doesn't like me doing it, he gets all jealous" she cringed and Ron laughed a little, dropping a small peck to her forehead and then letting her go.

"I'll see you soon though, I promise" she said and he offered her a smile, watching her leave sadly, the frown back in place on his handsome face.

* * *

><p>"OI! Cut it out!" George snapped, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he pulled on his jacket.<p>

"But I'm bored!" Angelina Johnson groaned pushing a few strands of braided hair from her face as she hoped off the desk and straightened out her work skirt and slipped into her heals.

"And I'm not your entertainer Angie, go find someone who can be arsed to put up with you, I have places to be!" he exclaimed, frowning at her.

"You're working all the time lately" she sighed, looking at the floor, sadness lodged in her spinal cord as she hunched slightly. He swallowed softly and breathed out tiredly before walking towards her and drawing her in for a warm hug.

"You're wearing his t-shirt under this right?" George mumbled against her neck, inhaling his dead twin's sent.

"I wear it all the time, I can't bring myself to wash it" she replied and he nodded against her.

"I'm sorry Ange. I know why you're really here though, you want to remember him. I can assure you, I'm nothing like him anymore. I don't even sound like him and you know it so you have to get the idea out of your head. I'm not going to be your photo of him for the rest of our lives. If you want to be here, then come when you're ready to accept that I'm not my brother. Go home sweetheart, think about what you want to do with the rest of your life and come back when you see me as George and not… Fred" he said, forcing the name to slip from his lips.

He pulled back from her and tucked a braid behind her ear, his thumb ghosting over the dark skin of her cheekbone; her eyes fluttered closed at his touch and she swallowed hard, a tear dripped down her face, effectively snapping his already broken heart.

"You're right… as usual" she choked, managing a breathy laugh as their foreheads leant together.

"Whatever friendship we have Angelina, it has to be based on exactly who we are not the people his death made us into. We need to get over it before we talk properly" he added. She nodded against him.

Slowly, she leant up slightly and pressed a tiny kiss to his lips, lingering pressed against his strong body for a moment, unable to move away for a second as images of being close to Fred flashed across her minds eye again.

"I'm so sorry George… I know you're probably dead inside at the moment and I'm not helping. You're one of my best friends… I love you" she whispered against his lips before actually pulling back and walking out of the room, leaving the door open behind her.

The walls of his office suddenly seemed a lot smaller.

* * *

><p>"This is beautiful Draco!" she breathed, looking out across the black Greek water as the moon reflected off the sea, lighting up her face as it always did.<p>

She was in a white vest and high wasted denim mini shorts, her waves pulled up into a messy pony tail as he leaned back against the railing of the boat, watching her stare out lovingly at the breathtaking scenes around him… none of it compared to her though, she was perfect to him in all her faults and annoying little tendencies, he loved all of her.

His hands felt all clammy all of a sudden and for a second, he almost chickened out of doing what he promised himself he would do, what he wanted to do the most.

"Hermione?" he asked softly and she smiled at his voice, her eyes closing as the breeze flew passed her tanned complexion.

"Dray?" she said in reply, opening her eyes again after a few seconds and turning to face him.

What she saw when she let her eyes crawl over him took her breath away. She could have sworn her heartbeats came to a painful pause and tears of mixed emotions sprung straight to her tear ducts.

"I said I needed help with something in Greece, you remember me saying that right? Well it's fairly simple actually…" he trailed off, trying to red her expression but he wasn't able to get anything apart from shock.

"It just requires you to say one word"


	19. Chapter 19

HEY!

So I had a bit of a word flow this afternoon and I managed to get two chapters done. I know this one isn't very long but its like the one before the epilogue so I guess you could say that this is the last chapter... SAD! :'( I really enjoyed writing this story, it's the first one I did without any fighting or war! Sad to see it go! I know I said it'll take me a month but I'm on the roll here people! I'll probably have the last one up in a couple of days but knowing me, I'll end up updating the last one tonight :L

REVIEW! And thank you for reviewing and favouriting, this is the first one where I've got passed 50 reviews! I love you lot!

Dee xxx

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><p>"So say you want me, say you need me, don't let the silence do the talking"<p>

* * *

><p>She was completely gob smacked; this was just not something that Draco did, he didn't propose. Especially not eight months into relationships; neither did he date women for that long at that matter, let alone take them to Greece on romantic boat trips in the middle of the night with gorgeous engagement rings. Shit, she couldn't breathe.<p>

It wasn't that she was saying no and she knew a lot of his pride was resting on this one word that she needed to say… and she would say it eventually, she was just trying to comprehend the fact that this was actually happening, that he was actually doing this without her having to hint or be moody for weeks on end.

After what seemed like a lifetime of the most stunned silence she'd ever experienced, the feeling started to come back into her body, he heart seemed to start up again, leaving a loud banging in her ears.

She looked up from the ring into his eyes and saw how much he needed her to say yes to this. Besides, it wasn't as if she even needed to think about it, there wasn't a decision to make really when the love of your life was stood in front of you with a ring that was promising an eternity of amazing sex and smiles and laughing and working. Her heart seemed to burn with warmth and very slowly, she nodded as a single tear that she didn't even know was there, spilled over and dripped down her right cheek.

"Of course it's a yes you numpty, why did you even have to ask?" she sobbed happily, throwing herself into his arms as he laughed at her, hugging her tightly.

"Give me your hand then you soppy twat" he tutted, pulling away from her and sliding the ring on her finger.

It was a beautiful, simple dark blue jewel on a thin, white gold band and it fit perfectly… how very ironic.

"If someone had told me seven years ago that I'd be proposing to Hermione Granger on a boat in the middle of Greece, I'd have hexed them into tomorrow just for being so stupid" he sighed, pulling her back in for a hug, cradling her head as they both looked out across the water peacefully, tears of happiness still streaming down her face.

"I love you" she whispered.

"The feeling's mutual Granger" he whispered back.

* * *

><p>"Ginny, no! I'm sorry but no, I can't keep doing this. You either want to live here or you don't but I can't live by someone else's rules anymore! I'm done with that. I had seventeen years of doing what everyone told me I had to. I'm free now why can't you just let me have that?" he said in a raised, exasperated voice. She looked upset and very angry. He knew it was a bad idea to get her all worked up like this but she was driving him crazy picking at everything. People thought Ginny was quite easy going on the surface but she was a complete clean freak, totally controlling when it came to keeping the house the way she wanted it and if it wasn't, all hell would break loose.<p>

"How dare you! What makes you think you can talk to me lik-"

"This is my house Ginny. It belongs to me and I'm not forcing you to live here, you suggested this and I can't live in a place where you can't spill! I need to be able to spill! My clothes need to be left on the bedroom floor for a little while before they get washed, the dishes can be left until desert and you do not need to scrub the bath raw everyday and I should not have to live by your rules. You call it being organised, I call it being controlling.

Sort it out or I'm throwing you out and yes, I will chuck you out. I need to breathe sometimes, I spent too long dealing with all this you don't seem to get exactly what I'm dealing with right now. I get that you lost a brother, I loved Fred too but all that time I wasn't allowed to grieve for my family has built up and I have this new Voldemort free life. I want to get over this stuff first before I do anything else. I love having you around, I love you.

I just need you to stop with the cleaning and the nagging and the cooking. I don't want this cute little housewife trying to impress me all the time, I just want you Gin, the girl I fell in love with, the girl with the fiery temper and wicked wit. The girl who could make me laugh and the girl who told me good luck when I was eleven at Kings Cross station" he said pleadingly.

She looked taken aback for a few moments, like she was struggling with herself. Tears began falling thick and fast down her face but she remained silent. After a few seconds, she looked up at him and nodded.

"I don't know what I'm doing… sometimes it's like everything's overwhelmingly calm, like nothing's happened. Then I get scared because I don't know what to do with myself, I don't know how to act now he's gone. It's like I've lost myself, like I don't know who I am anymore… I guess you're feeling this way because the person you're seeing being this crazy, erratic bitch isn't who I am… but the girl you fell in love with, I'm not her either. I'm losing my mind and I'm completely calm about it… I'm shitting myself because I love you so fucking much… that's all that's left of the old me though.

I'm so in love with you Harry that it physically hurts sometimes and then I remember all those funerals and the pain and the blood and mud and all the other shit and I'm not me anymore… I can't reach for that person and I think… I th-thin-think sh-she's gone" Ginny said, her voice dangerously, scarily solid and stony. Ever the proud woman, she would not show a weakness that ran deeper than tears.

It was devastating to watch someone so strong just… crumbling.

"Ginny you need to hear me when I'm telling you that I don't care. Shut up a minute would you! Fucking listen to me! I LOVE YOU! I love you exactly as you are and you may not think you're Ginevra Weasley anymore but you are! I know you Ginny and you're confused and hurting but get it into your head that I need you! Look at me for fuck sake look at me Ginny! I'm here, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. We're going to get married in a few years and have lost of gorgeous children but you need to find yourself. We're going away, far away and we're going next week and we're not coming back for at least six months" he said, grabbing her face and looking straight into her eyes before kissing her forcefully on the lips.

She blinked vacantly three times and then leant her head forward a little hesitantly to kiss him properly.

All her doubt ebbed away with this one kiss and she felt warmth spread through her veins, electric hit her nervous system and all the hairs on her body stood on end as they melted into his, his hands winding through her hair as the fabric of his shirt bunched in her own.

"I love you" she sighed against his lips but before he could reply, Draco's patronus burst into the room and interrupted him.

"Potter, you need to get over to St Mungo's now. Granger's had a fall, it doesn't look pretty. Move your ass" he said urgently and Harry could hear the pain in his friend's voice as it very nearly cracked.

"Shit" Ginny cursed, following Harry's brisk step through the hallway and through the front door so they could apparate.

* * *

><p>The first thing she noticed was a terrible stabbing pain in her ribs that made her want to cry out. She bit down hard on her tongue and the bitter taste of blood hit her mouth.<p>

Her leg had been recently healed and her head was pounding terribly. Slowly, she let her eyes flicker open and she slowly turned her head sideways, squinting to see through bleary vision.

"Draco?" she mumbled, feeling his grip on her hand tighten as she met his eyes.

"What happened?" she asked groggily, her voice cracking from lack of use.

"You were walking up to Bogdan's England based office and you tripped, falling down two flights of stairs and going through a window" he explained tightly, his tone over-controlled, his face had not been so intense since before Voldemort had died.

"Two fucking flights of stairs? Shit" she coughed, wincing when it put pressure on her obviously broken ribs.

"They don't like healing rib cages until people are awake, they can be more precise when you're conscious" he said shortly and she knew he'd suffered seeing her in so much pain.

His hair was all over the place and he was paler than ever. Stubble dotted his jawline and chin and it was clear that he had not left her bedside since she'd been brought in.

Then she remembered.

She remembered the letter she'd received from the muggle government that had apparently been trying to get hold of her for two years since her parents died.

_Dear, _

_Miss Hermione Jean Granger, _

_We are writing to inform you of an issue that came to our attention two years ago when your legal parents were registered by you as deceased. _

_We have been attempting to contact you ever since but have not been able to find the correct address. _

_We are told by law, that in event of legal parents dying, we have to inform their child of their true parentage. _

_When you were of three months of age, your mother and father both died in a car crash when you were effectively orphaned. Six months later, Marianne Granger and her husband adopted you and named you as their own child. We apologise for this letter if you had already been informed of this fact. _

_Hoping you are well, _

_Carlos Partridge_

_The Child Protection agency _

She had hoped and hoped that it was some kind of sick joke until she'd done some digging and found her original DNA report and birth certificate and had cried for three hours straight.

She had remembered that she was due for a meeting with Bogdan though and had gone to see him, trying desperately to put the matter to the back of her mind and focus on work, like Hermione 'Granger' always did when she'd… well, she must've fallen at this point because she remembered nothing passed walking through the reception of the foreign link's England based offices.

"Draco, what would you say if I told you my whole life was based on a lie?" she whimpered, tears starting to fall again as the sobs that would surely come began to wrack her body painfully.

He leaned forward to kiss her gently on the lips, stroking the hair away from her forehead and brushing the tears away from her face with his thumbs. She knew he'd already got someone to find out what she'd been so upset about when she was brought into the hospital, barely awake and in grave pain.

"I'd say you were lying"


	20. Epilogue

HI!

Uggh, I nearly cried writing this last chapter, I'm going to miss this story so much! I love writing these characters, I always get a little emotional when I finish a story.

Just like to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who alerted, favourited and reviewed; you lot are bloody brilliant and you make it a pleasure to keep doing these things. This is the first story that's taken me passed fifty reviews by the finish line, 61 reviews! I would say drinks all around but I'm skint and some of you are a little... far away plus this is kind of over the internet so that would be wierd... I tell you what, all have a glass of wine and pretend I bought it for you, there we go :L :D

But truly, thank you and go check out my other stories as well, I'm not doing so well with the reviews on them.

For the last time writing the story 'Life of lies', REVIEWWW!

Dee xxx

P.S. I just started crying... yep, I'm officially a soppy Gryffindor, great. See what you lot do to me! GRR! ;)

* * *

><p>"No, this is not your legacy, this is not your meant to be, I can break the chains that bind you" ~ Matthew West - Family Tree<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh Merlin woman would you just shut up for one second?" Severus Snape snapped loudly, slamming his quill down on the desk in front of him and glaring at his long time girlfriend who was glaring right back at him, her arms crossed over her chest.<p>

"Don't even think about talking to me like that again Snape or I'll hex your arms right off... it's not my fault this time of year is bad for you, grow the fuck up and show me that brave man who saved the world all those years ago! Where'd he go? I'm pretty sure he hasn't taken a summer vacation to Disney Land" Mila growled, narrowing her eyes.

He stared at her furiously for five solid minutes, niether backing down. Soon though, his resolve weakened and he swallowed hard, the expression draining from his face.

"I don't understand why Halloween effects me so much, I don't even love her anymore" he sighed, leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his soft, long black hair that now had a few greys in it. His face was aged but wrinkles weren't really showing he still wasn't gorgeous but to her he would always be handsome... scenic in ways she couldn't describe... almost beautiful.

"You just have too many regrets Sev, you need to let all of that go. Remember that you're a hero and a good man... despite your shitty attitude and bully behaviour. I love you for it dude, you just need to love yourself" she said softly, walking towards him and falling into his lap, leaning against his chest and sighing happily as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you so much you cheeky, insufferable, rude, childish bitch" he breathed sadly and she chuckled, digging her elbow into his ribs on purpose, making him scowl but hold her tighter, placing a rough kiss on her forehead.

"I hate you Severus Snape but that's the reason why I love you" she said casually, her thin arms sliding under his robes and settling aroung his muscled waist.

"Fuck off" he snapped and she chuckled, kissing along his jawline as he growled, grabbing her easily and throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her in the direction of his bedroom.

* * *

><p>"Daddy, you might want to stay out of the guest room for a little while..." Lily said, a grimace on her face as she trapesed into the kitchen, pulling her hair up into a tight bun as she went, a tiny red curl falling to frame her beautiful young face.<p>

"Wha-"

An explosion sounded from upstairs and Lily grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table.

"I told you" she shrugged and Harry growled low in his chest.

"JAMES!" he yelled, sprinting from the kitchen leaving his chuckling daughter shaking her head at her brother's antics.

"I couldn't help it Dad! It was Albus's fault! I told him to leave Uncle George's firework collection alone" James's cheeky voice sounded over the explosions and Lily laughed a little more to herself, giving her mother a look of intellegent indignance as the woman entered the house, placing her bag down on the table.

"James again?" Ginny Potter asked her daughter and the little girl nodded.

"Mummy, did you even have to ask?"

* * *

><p>"MUMMY! JESSIE STOLE MY TEDDIE AGAIN" Marianne screamed loudly from the garden, her little dress covered in mud as she trudged back up the path towards the cottage, her huge bushy mane of brunette curls a mess and her mini model of a toy broom stick flying in lazy circles around her as she coughed up crocodile tears.<p>

An older woman with long, dark brown, elegant curls cascading down her back and friendly, adoring brown eyes bent down in the doorway of the house, he arms open for her daughter to run into.

She had aged well. The beginnings of wrinkles could be seen at the corners of her eyes but they were barely visible and her lips were full and rosy as ever. Her skin was still almost flawless and she still had a petite, curvy frame despite having an ever so slightly bigger bulge around the stomach area. She wore a high wasted, denim mini skirt and flat, brown, calf length boots with a dark green strappy vest tucked in.

"Maz, why are you covered in dirt again?" she asked the child sternly, pulling out her wand and muttering a quick Scourgify to get off most of the mud,

"Jessie pushed me over" the little girls soft, innocent voice said, guiltiness flashing in the depths of her ice blue eyes and her mother raised her eyebrows matter of factly.

"Now see, I don't think you're telling the truth Mazzie, I think I'm going to have to call on Uncle Harry to see what he thinks because you know he can always tell when people are lying" she said.

Maz pouted and shook her head furiously.

"NO! No Mummy! It was Jessie's fault I swear, she left her stick out and I tripped over" the little girl insisted.

"Maz, honey, there are sticks everywhere. It's the countryside sweaty. But be a little more careful next time okay? Good now go tell Jessie that if she doesn't give Benji bear back, I'm taking her crayons away for the weekend" she said, planting a tiny kiss on her daughter's button nose before standing back up to full height and turning back to go into the kitchen.

She was making herself a cup of tea and absentmindedly staring out the window at the sun covered backdrop of their surroundings when two strong arms wrapped snugly around her waist from behind and a chin rested on her shoulder.

A content grin broke out in her face and she sighed, leaning back into his warmth as he peppered tiny kisses on her cheek and up and down her neck.

"Did you have a good day?" he asked in her ear and she nodded slightly.

"Jessie just can't seem to leave that village boy alone though, she chases him all day and he loves it!" she exclaimed, shivering when he breathed out a chuckle, his breath fanning against the exposed skin of her collar bone.

"Potter wants to come round this weekend. He's bringing James and Albus" he said softly, nuzzling his head softly in her hair as she breathed out a sigh of comfort.

"Feeling your age?" he asked quietly and she nodded.

"Just a little. Did you see the kids on the way in? Did Jess give Maz her teddy back?" she asked and he rolled his eyes, turning her around and pulling her in for a proper hug.

Just like all those years ago in the lake, in the summer at Hogwarts, his hugs could still make all the little things that worried her brilliant mind seem so far away and for that second that he pulled her that little bit closer into him, his body relaxing against her; she knew that his hugs would never change.

"I really bloody love you, you infuriating human being" Hermione Malfoy sighed, burying her face in his shoulder and closing her eyes softly, basking in the security of his embrace.

"You know what Granger? I think I might love you too"


End file.
